As I did last year, I want to share with you why it is so important that we embrace the global event that is International Women’s Day, celebrating the achievements of women across the world and remembering the ongoing fight for gender equality, by highlighting to you our amazing sport, and the inspiration it brings to young women and girls around our country and beyond is a pleasure.

It is a poignant time to remind ourselves of roles that we fulfil and the progress we make as we continue to increase the recognition of our beautiful game with fans, media, and the wider basketball community.

First of all, as we head into our second major event on Sunday 9th March, my good wishes are with Oaklands Wolves and the B. Braun Sheffield Hatters as they take to the floor in the inaugural SLB Cup Final, and a shoutout goes to Caledonia Gladiators who have already put the Betty Codona Trophy in their cabinet this season.

Coming towards the business end of the 2024/25 season, I remain honoured to be a female in leader in women’s sport and as General Manager of the Women’s League. I want to celebrate my female colleagues working across our clubs competing in in the league – it is not just female players that are pioneering our sport across the UK but Coaches and Operations Specialists too.

We are proud that more than half of the Head Coaches across the league are female Brits and should recognise Chantelle Handy (Caledonia Gladiators), Stef Collins (Cardiff Met Archers), Rheanne Bailey (Manchester Basketball), Chloe Gaynor (Newcastle Eagles), Karen Burton (Nottingham Wildcats) and Vanessa Ellis (B. Braun Sheffield Hatters) for their dedication to their craft.

In addition to the strong female leadership our teams have on the basketball court, they would not be on the court without the super organised women behind the scenes, namely Lisa Palombo (Caledonia Gladiators), Sarah Wagstaff (Cardiff Met Archers), Diana Voynova (Essex Rebels), Tegan Hargreaves (Leicester Riders), Ruchae Walton (London Lions), Dominique Allen (Manchester Basketball), and Sarah Backovic (B. Braun Sheffield Hatters).

On the international stage the Great Britain Women’s team has recently secured a spot at FIBA EuroBasket. We celebrate with them and wish the SLB players who took part in the campaign the best of luck in the summer – Kirsty Brown, Hannah Robb (both Caledonia Gladiators), Katie Januszewska (Leicester Riders), Sam Ashby, Shanice Beckford-Norton, Bo Guttormsdottir-Frost (all Oaklands Wolves), and Shauna Harrison (B. Braun Sheffield Hatters).

There is a plethora of female talent, leadership, commitment and drive here in the SLB and I invite you, male or female, to join our revolution, supporting our clubs as we continue our journey together in the league. Follow us on social media, keep track of our news, and where you can drop into a game. We promise you fun and excitement on your basketball journey.