On our weekly news magazine show Chris Stafford is joined by Nancy Gillen from Inside the Games who has the top stories from around the world of women’s sport. This week’s guest is Carly Harper, host of The Lovely Biertrix podcast and Roller Derby announcer. Carly explains how the Covid pandemic has brought the sport to a standstill and how it’s surviving around the world. We also hear how it plans to bring the sport back for players and spectators alike.
This week’s top international news stories:
Semenya World Athletics Due to Dispute
FIFA Age Group Tournaments Cancelled
CAS Halves Shayna Jack Doping Ban
Kim Returns to US Snowboard team
UK Sport Paris 2024 Coach Program
Boxer Katie Taylor Win
South Africa Win COSAFA Title
Olympic Oath Minuzzo Dies
Commonwealth Games Qualification Process Announced for Cricket
South African sport under scrutiny over handling of child sexual abuse claims
Duration: 60 mins
For more information, links and resources plus conversations from the world of women’s sport including articles, blogs, videos and podcasts visit wispsports.com. WiSP Sports is the World’s First and Only Podcast Network for Women’s Sport with more than 60 hosts, 1300+ episodes across 50 shows and over 7 million downloads. WiSP Sports is on all major podcast players. Follow WiSP Sports on social media @WiSPsports. Contact us at [email protected].

This week’s guest is one that Pam and Sarah have been looking forward to for a while. Jessica Phoenix is a top-ranked Canadian Eventer and member of the Canadian Eventing team, representing Canada at the London 2012 and Rio 2016 Olympic Games as well as three World Equestrian Games and four Pan American Games. 
Jess grew up riding horses, started jumping at the age of ten and has never looked back. She tells us about the time she was preparing to travel to the UK with her horses for some international competitions when she found out she was pregnant for the first time. After gathering some advise from her doctor, she felt confident that she could continue to train right through her pregnancy, and did so with ease. She was keen to share with our listeners that we should not see pregnancy as an illness and so long as you are safe and receive guidance from health professionals, not to be deterred from exercising whilst pregnant. 
Even though she had initially not seen herself having children, she now knows it was the best thing to ever happen to her and believes it actually enabled her to step up her game. Jess feels that with kids you have to be so much more efficient and focussed when you are at training, a skill that she takes around the world when she competes. 
Of course, in a sport like eventing there are a lot of expenses and Jess felt some concern about her continued support from sponsors. (This is a topic in and of itself which will be covered on future episodes in more detail.) 
Living in Ontario, Canada and traveling to Florida to train and compete for up to four months of the year, it takes a bit of a balancing for her family to manage but with the right support system, Jess has made history competing for Canada and is training towards the Tokyo 2021 Olympic games.
A short trip into Jess’s birth story left our hosts holding back the laughter as it was definitely one of the funnier—though surely not at the time—birth stories on the show so far. 
Hosts: Sarah Newberry Moore & Pam Relph Jones
Podcast length: 46 mins
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For more information, links and resources plus conversations from the world of women’s sport including articles, blogs, videos and podcasts visit wispsports.com. WiSP Sports is the World’s First and Only Podcast Network for Women’s Sport with more than 60 hosts, 1300+ episodes across 50 shows and over 7 million plays and downloads. WiSP Sports is on all major podcast players. Follow WiSP Sports on social media @WiSPsports. Write to us at [email protected].

Missy Marlowe became a Junior National Team member in gymnastics at the  age of 15 going on to become an Olympian and NCAA National Champion. As the first ever gymnast to win the Honda Cup Missy takes us through her journey of training and competing in her youth, to owning her gym and becoming a personal trainer.  She shares the benefits she had in opening up her eyes to  a world view in travel when she did not make the “A” team.  Missy also speaks to the gymnastics training environment that led to the abuse of athletes; mentally, physically, emotionally and sexually, and is proud that gymnastics has opened a door to meaningful conversations encouraging athletes to speak out. Missy describes the unique parts of gymnastics where the training and the competition is high risk but the reward and feelings of being in the air is exhilarating. She compares and contrasts her Olympic and collegiate experiences.  Missy also shares advice to parents of gymnasts and other sports from her perspective of having been a daughter and now having a daughter who compete in sport. The lessons Missy learned included a strong work ethic, facing one’s fears, building resilience and pursuing goals.  Fundamentally, she loves the sport and being in the gym and hopes all children get a chance to participate at some level in sports not least of all because of the lessons it teaches us.
Host: Chris Voelz.
Podcast length: 37 mins.
A co-production with Collegiate Women's Sports Awards (CWSA)
For more information, links and resources plus conversations from the world of women’s sport including articles, blogs, videos and podcasts visit wispsports.com. WiSP Sports is the World’s First and Only Podcast Network for Women’s Sport with more than 60 hosts, 1300+ episodes across 50 shows and over 7 million downloads. WiSP Sports is on all major podcast players. Follow WiSP Sports on social media @WiSPsports. Contact us at [email protected].

This week’s guest is Tiffany Melius, a competitive Australian rock climber currently based in North Vancouver, Canada. Having climbed for more than 20 years, Tiffany has clocked up over 10,000 hours climbing and competed in no less than 100 competitions. In 2016, she became the Australian Women’s Bouldering Champion and in 2017 claimed the title of Oceania Continental Climbing Champion. At the Tokyo 2021 Games, sport climbing will be included for the first time, with spots for one male and one female to qualify from Oceania. Alas just recently Tiffany has made the difficult decision to pull out of the Olympics. In addition to her rock climbing commitments she is also the Executive Director of the New View Mental Health Society and the founder of Force of Nature Coaching. Tiffany was incredibly generous with sharing her stories of navigating the rocky world of climbing, putting all of her energies into qualifying for the Olympics only to change course, and the importance of self-reflection in her sporting journey.
Duration: 43 mins
Hosts: Ellie Smith & Georgina Mallon
A co-production with Women Sport Australia
Music: Paredes Invisibles by Paula van Hissenhoven
For more information, links and resources plus conversations from the world of women’s sport including articles, blogs, videos and podcasts visit wispsports.com. WiSP Sports is the World’s First and Only Podcast Network for Women’s Sport with more than 60 hosts, 1300+ episodes across 50 shows and over 7 million downloads. WiSP Sports is on all major podcast players. Follow WiSP Sports on social media @WiSPsports. Contact us at [email protected].

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On our weekly news magazine show Chris Stafford is joined by Nancy Gillen from Inside the Games who has the top stories from around the world of women’s sport. This week’s guest is Maggie Johnston our new Production Assistant who has some exciting plans for our social media...and she’s already a star on TikTok!
Top stories this week:
Rapinoe Comments on Women's Soccer
Laurenne Ross Returning Strong From Injury
Christie aiming for Olympic redemption
Chen Meng wins Women's World Cup - table tennis
Melissa Tapper aiming for Paralympic gold
ISA Women's Judging programme
Nancy Darsch dies
COSAFA Women's Championship
Duration: 29 mins
For more information, links and resources plus conversations from the world of women’s sport including articles, blogs, videos and podcasts visit wispsports.com. WiSP Sports is the World’s First and Only Podcast Network for Women’s Sport with more than 60 hosts, 1300+ episodes across 50 shows and over 7 million downloads. WiSP Sports is on all major podcast players. Follow WiSP Sports on social media @WiSPsports. Contact us at [email protected].

This week’s episode is coming to you on the eve of Veteran’s Day 2020 and we are very honored to share the inspiring story of veteran-patriot-athlete-author-mother Melissa Stockwell. Melissa grew up with big dreams, she knew she wanted to serve her country from an early age and in 2002 she was commissioned into the United States Army as an officer in the Transportation Corps. In 2004, Melissa was deployed to Baghdad, Iraq with the 1st Cavalry Division. It was during this deployment on a routine convoy that her vehicle was struck by a roadside bomb. Melissa became the first women to lose a limb in active combat and was awarded the Bronze Star and Purple Heart for her Service and Sacrifice.  For Melissa, losing a leg, going through her rehab and recovery at Walter Reed Army Medical Center gave her a lot of perspective, and she remembers feeling lucky that she only lost one limb. This mindset was a pillar of strength for her as she went on to represent the USA, in a different uniform, at two Paralympic Games.
Inspiring us and so many on her journey, Melissa didn’t skip a beat when she and her husband decided to start a family. They had a window of time that worked for Melissa’s racing schedule and in true Army fashion, she made it happen.  She has two children who have taught her that being an athlete and a mom is about progress, not perfection. 
What have you done today that has been progress towards a goal?  Even the smallest acts or decisions can still get you a step towards where you want to be. For more inspiration read Melissa’s new book, The Power of Choice: My Journey from Wounded Warrior to World Champion.
Melissa also co-founded Dare2Tri, an Illinois-based 501(c)3 non-for-profit organization with the mission to enhance the lives of individuals with physical disabilities and visual impairments by building confidence, community, health and wellness through swimming, biking, and running.
Podcast length: 49 mins
Hosts: Sarah Newberry Moore & Pamela Relph Jones
For more information, links and resources plus conversations from the world of women’s sport including articles, blogs, videos and podcasts visit wispsports.com. WiSP Sports is the World’s First and Only Podcast Network for Women’s Sport with more than 60 hosts, 1300+ episodes across 50 shows and over 7 million downloads. WiSP Sports is on all major podcast players. Follow WiSP Sports on social media @WiSPsports. Contact us at [email protected].

On this week's episode of Sound Bites, Functional Medicine Practitioner, Dr Kirstin Lauritzen, covers our next nutrient highlight: Iron. Unfortunately, many athletes discover how essential iron is the difficult way. Iron deficiency and the subsequent iron deficiency anemia can create a lot of havoc for an athlete. Women are far more susceptible because of menstruation, but men can still get this too. There are many reasons why an athlete can become deficient in iron, from dietary habits, to training requirements, to sweat loss and a lot more. Although many athletes have heard about this or potentially experienced this themselves, it’s worth learning more about it as the signs and symptoms of deficiency can be caught early and treated. In this episode Dr K discusses what coaches, athletes and practitioners need to be looking for when it comes to the tell tale signs of an iron deficiency. Dr K also covers a few treatment options as well as, of course, where you can find it in food! We hope you enjoy this episode of Sound Bites.
Duration: 21 mins
For more information, links and resources plus conversations from the world of women’s sport including articles, blogs, videos and podcasts visit wispsports.com. WiSP Sports is the World’s First and Only Podcast Network for Women’s Sport with more than 60 hosts, 1300+ episodes across 50 shows and over 7 million downloads. WiSP Sports is on all major podcast players. Follow WiSP Sports on social media @WiSPsports. Contact us at [email protected].

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/women-unscripted--4769409/support.

On this week’s episode, Nicole talks to colleague Dr. Gyasmine George-Williams “Dr. G” who is an activist, socio-cultural higher education practitioner, and Assistant Professor at the University of La Verne. She earned her bachelor's in Psychology from California State University, Los Angeles, a Masters in College Counseling and Student Development and Masters in Educational Counseling, both from the University of La Verne, and a PhD in Higher Education from Azusa Pacific University. She serves on the Black Scholars Advisory Board, Black Faculty and Staff Association, and is a faculty partner to La Verne's Intercollegiate Athletics Committee. Her research and passion includes athlete and student activism, student-faculty interaction among students of color, women of color in leadership, and critical race theory in higher education. Dr. George-Williams is the founder of GGW Consulting and has created evidenced-based models to honor and center the experiences and leadership of activists of color and disenfranchised groups. Dr. G. was part of a scholarly panel for the Fall 2020 Tucker Center Distinguished Lecture Series where she talked about the Activism Growth Model (AGM). We explore the development and theoretical underpinning of the AGM and the Black Athlete Activist Leadership (BAAL) Model.
Host: Dr. Nicole LaVoi
Podcast length: 43 mins
A co-production with the Tucker Center for Research on Girls and Women in Sport.
For more information, links and resources plus conversations from the world of women’s sport including articles, blogs, videos and podcasts visit wispsports.com. WiSP Sports is the World’s First and Only Podcast Network for Women’s Sport with more than 60 hosts, 1300+ episodes across 50 shows and over 7 million downloads. WiSP Sports is on all major podcast players. Follow WiSP Sports on social media @WiSPsports. Contact us at [email protected].

On our weekly news magazine show Chris Stafford is joined by Nancy Gillen from Inside the Games who has the top stories from around the world of women’s sport. Despite the interruptions to sport this year we will have some year end awards from World Athletic. There’s a disappointing result for England Netball and as always women’s soccer is never short of stories. Here are the stories we covered this week:
Shayna Jack Doping Ban
Female World Athlete of the Year
Priestman Appointed Canada Soccer Manager
Female Volleyball Leaders
Rosario re-elected Puerto Rico Olympic Committee President
Women's FA Cup Paused
New Zealand Netball Whitewash
COSAFA Women's Championship
Podcast length: 33 mins
Hosts: Sarah Newberry Moore & Pamela Relph Jones
For more information, links and resources plus conversations from the world of women’s sport including articles, blogs, videos and podcasts visit wispsports.com. WiSP Sports is the World’s First and Only Podcast Network for Women’s Sport with more than 60 hosts, 1300+ episodes across 50 shows and over 7 million downloads. WiSP Sports is on all major podcast players. Follow WiSP Sports on social media @WiSPsports. Contact us at [email protected].

This week’s guest is a new mother, an American record holder and powerlifting national champion—Becci Holcomb is a force to be reckoned with. Shooting to the top of the field in just four years in the sport, Becci took to powerlifting very naturally. She was raised on a farm and has always been naturally strong and powerful. Her father was an Olympic wrestler.  After a friend suggested she try powerlifting, she took an introductory class and was just lifting a PVC plastic pipe. The next day despite her body being sore and tired, she was hooked.  Powerlifting is a sport where you might only compete three times a year, as it takes a long time to build up to a competition and to recover. Becci is the ultimate competitor, normally only hitting personal bests during a competition. 
Becci and her boyfriend Jay found out she was pregnant in October 2019 and two weeks later she told her coach, knowing she was due to compete in Dubai just a month later. Following the advice from her coach and the team around her, Becci felt safe to compete so she went ahead. 
Lifting weights through pregnancy is safe so long as you are able to stay within a safe range, no more than 80% of your 1rep max. Becci found she needed to take longer rests in-between sets to recover, needed extra snacks to help hold off the nausea, and critically take extra care not to aggravate old injuries. The hormone that prepares your body to hold a baby—and eventually push it out—is called relaxin and this can make you more susceptible to over-stretching. 
Her birth plan was always to try to do it as natural as possible, even knowing her baby was breech throughout the whole pregnancy. Becci found an obstetrician who would supervise a vaginal delivery of a breech birth, and tried External Cephalic Version (ECV) which involves gentle manipulation of the baby in utero to change its position.  Alas, it did not work. Just before her due date, Becci realized something was not right and following tests, she decided to undergo an emergency c-section. For someone who puts a lot of stress on their core muscles, this was naturally a a major concern for Becci.  Fortunately all went well and she gave birth to her daughter Xoë Grace.
We asked Becci for some top tips for moms-to-be when it came to continuing their weight training during pregnancy. 
Listen to your body
Be patient with yourself - everything feels different when you are pregnant and afterwards so don’t rush back.
Podcast length: 49 mins
Hosts: Sarah Newberry Moore & Pamela Relph Jones
For more information, links and resources plus conversations from the world of women’s sport including articles, blogs, videos and podcasts visit wispsports.com. WiSP Sports is the World’s First and Only Podcast Network for Women’s Sport with more than 60 hosts, 1300+ episodes across 50 shows and over 7 million downloads. WiSP Sports is on all major podcast players. Follow WiSP Sports on social media @WiSPsports. Contact us at [email protected].