WILD Project Ends but the WILD women push on
WILD participants and 2011-2013 Steering Group members, Carole Bretteville and Lara Lill tell us about the project's effects:
Carole: When I applied to the French Olympic Committee (CNOSF) to be part of WILD, I did not think this program would give me the tools, give me a network and an extraordinary human experience!
When I was elected in 2009 in the French federation of company sport, my president, Didier Besseyre, gave me the task of creating the Women and Sport Committee.
I started doing research on women's commissions, their activities, and their best practices. I had not even thought about the European commissions!
The founding of this committee has made me understand clearly the place of women in sport. So when the CNOSF sent the form to participate in WILD, I immediately realised that this training would give me the means to be active and independent and be a leader!
Above all, WILD is an extraordinary human experience!
We are always a little surprised to see people bind friendships fast in reality TV shows, WILD was similar! The training was so full of speakers and fun activities that we felt we have spent weeks together. In just three international sessions, Brussels, Copenhagen and Strasbourg the WILD network was born, and we understood what its importance was and why it was necessary to establish it!
The national sessions allowed me to work in teams in order to present work at an international session. This experience was very interesting and rewarding. We learned quickly when we were put in that position.
It's a crash course with quality speakers and attendees who have only one desire: that we are aware of the difficulties we may encounter in our future work, how to arm ourselves to face the hurdles and how to jump them!
To qualify to become a leader you must have a project, know the environment and the means to project success.
The training undertaken during the programme allowed me to gain international experience, experience of working in groups and independently. The experience of public speaking, to defend my point of view, interpreting roles in scenarios has been very rewarding!
The meeting with people like Birgitta Kervinen (ENSGO), Amanda Bennett (EWS), Sallie Barker, Françoise Sauvageot (CNOSF) have added to my desire to become a leader. The charisma that emerges from these people is impressive at first, then we realize that we have advice to share, that we have projects like others and we have to fight for ideas and to end discrimination faced by women!
WILD was the programme that I needed to take advantage of accelerated training to become a leader, remain and advance again, and again! WILD was fun!
Lara: WILD was run by the European Non-Government Sports Organisation (ENGSO). The programme had partners in Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Hungary, Italy, Sweden and the UK. It provided training, career development and networking opportunities to women in sport.
Launched on 13/14 April 2010 in Brussels at the European Union Parliament the countries and participants gathered together in this unique opportunity to provide a platform for future women's leadership programmes in sport across Europe. WILD ran for a period of 12months with outcomes around:
· Increasing representation by women in leadership positions in sport
· Building the competence and confidence of women in decision making positions
· Increasing support among organisations for the contribution women can make to sports leadership
· Strengthening networking between women leaders both nationally and internationally
· Providing a platform for future national and international projects
· Sharing best practice via website, publications, seminars and international events
WILD was an excellent experience which focused around the sharing of transnational issues in Europe and created a competence which complemented others in Europe and will hopefully result in a road map for sporting activity. In addition the UK training covered:
· Leadership and management styles
· Media preparation
· Effective board evaluation
· Strategic planning
· Finance and Governance
WILD provided the opportunity to embark on personal development, experience wider cultural issues and to share learning and development with women from other European countries, this has been inspirational. A firm bond between the participants was formed and life-long friendships developed.
For Lara, this has led to her becoming a member of the European Women and Sport steering group. An exciting time to look at raising the profile of women in sport.
