Welcome to The Spotlight! We are so excited to shine a little light on the partners who have made the 2022 Equality Summit possible through their generous support. Equal Playing Field is a collective of change-makers from around the world, and it takes everyone from individual volunteers to corporate donors to fight for opportunity, equality, and respect within the world of sport.
First Up: Lewes Football Club
Words by Lewes FC Director, Karen Dobres
What does the phrase “equal playing field” mean to you and your organization?
The phrase Equal Playing Field means a situation in which everyone has the same opportunity to feel safe and thrive regardless of their inherent characteristics - including beliefs, sexual orientation, ability or disability, gender, faith, race, age, pregnancy and marital status. At Lewes FC, knowing that we work within a male bastion, we are particularly concerned with creating a level playing field for women in football.
What do you wish to bring to the summit and the attendees, and what are you most looking forward to experiencing yourselves?
As the only pro or semi pro football club in the world to value and resource our female players equally to the male ones, we hope to be a source of inspiration and hope, and an example of what can be achieved when an organisation acts upon its vision in a pragmatic way.
What and/or who inspires you most to do the work that you do?
As a football club we are inspired by rebel women who disrupt the system - in football or elsewhere – and excel against all the odds. We also take inspiration from each other, working as a team behind the scenes. The male allies at Lewes FC are unusual and admirable for the time and effort they put into gender equality, and the women here are all leaders, whether they like it or not!
How do you measure success for your organization? What would a successful summit experience look like?
We measure our success in terms of on-pitch wins and league position for both our men’s and women’s teams; the number of owners we attract as a 100% community-owned initiative; the quality of the sponsorship deals we make; the gate figures we draw; the amount of people who attend our talks and courses on ED & I; and the (brilliant!) feedback we get for our work on and off the pitch.
If you could impart a message of hope to a young woman athlete or entrepreneur who is just starting out, what would that be?
You belong in this arena.
What piece of advice would you give your younger self?
To a younger Lewes FC we would say: ‘You will never believe the kind of history you are going to make – you world-changer you!’
Which of your organization’s recent achievements gives you a sense of pride and brings a smile to your face?
Since 2017 we have said ‘Equality is a rising tide that lifts all our boats’ and have a board in The Dripping Pan proclaiming this. This season we kick off with a brand-new state-of-the-art hybrid pitch courtesy of a £750,000 grant from the FA and the PL specifically for the work we’ve done with our women’s team. It is quite literally a level playing field, and crucially, our men’s team will benefit from this pitch too, proving our concept. When we look at our new pitch we can smile and say, ‘Equality really is a rising tide lifting all our boats!’
