The first female chair of the All England Club has fought for women in sport her whole career – and believes that Wimbledon can inspire a new generation.

It’s not a bad place to come to work. One of the most beautiful settings in sport, the venue for the biggest tennis tournament in the world and a place that has played a special part in my life over many years: Wimbledon. This is my first year as chair of the All England Lawn Tennis Club (All England Club), and I’m proud to be the first female to hold that position.

A lot has changed since the first time I was here, but so much has stayed the same. The Club has evolved while keeping faith with tradition. As we've developed the courts, we've kept the Boston Ivy, we've kept the flowers around the ground, our honorary stewards are still here. We still have the queue. So many of those things that are unique to Wimbledon are still present.

But the red clay courts aren’t here these days. They were just beyond what is now Court Two, just like you get at Roland Garros. And that’s where I played the first time I walked through the gates of the All England Club at the age of 11 to play in a schools’ competition called the Aberdare Cup. I was wearing the red blazer of my all-girls grammar school. Club colours. I remember feeling so nervous and thinking “is this real?”

I could not have imagined it at the time, but a few years later I won Junior Wimbledon. Then, in 1979, having turned professional, I reached the fourth round of the main draw – where I lost to fifth-seed Virginia Wade. In ’79, Court One was joined to Centre Court. When you played on Court One, as I was privileged to do, you actually came from the players’ restaurant and had to walk under Centre Court, through the spectators, turn left, down through a small spectator stand and onto the court. There was just one massive stand. I remember seeing my grandfather watching – for once he wasn’t smoking his pipe, he was just watching me play. But even then, I was facing issues that young women experience from grassroots to the elite level – issues that I have worked to address since I stopped playing.

Sport was in my DNA. My parents met playing sport and I competed in hockey and tennis, while also playing football. As you develop as an athlete, your muscles get bigger and I was quite tall, nearly five foot eight. Yet the images I saw of females in the media at that time were different. The ideal of the attractive woman was not associated with sport and fitness – this was the era of Page Three in The Sun. So, I had this constant conflict of wanting to be an attractive female yet having muscles and playing sport.

I didn't always deal well with it. I talked to friends, to parents, but I didn't always find it easy and it made me very insecure in some social situations. But then you realise the opportunities you have as an athlete and you get through it, and things change.

After I retired from tennis, I took up a role as director of the women’s game for the International Tennis Federation. And guess where their offices were based? Right here at the All England Club.

That was 37 years ago now and tennis, and professional sport in general, has changed dramatically in that time. I’ve seen this shift while holding administration posts across sport: in football, rugby and as director of sport at the London Olympic and Paralympic Games. Wherever I have been, I have tried to promote women’s sport at elite and grassroots level.

One of the major challenges is keeping young women interested in sport beyond primary-school age. During those early teenage years, the drop-off can be huge. Fear of being judged and lack of confidence often prevent young women participating in sport – and some often never return.

A lot of the work Podium Analytics do is about injury prevention and playing more sport for longer – not just for elite athletes, but for all youngsters competing in sport. As a young sportswoman, I was lucky that I found a way to deal with my issues. Now, in my role as a special advisor to Podium, the focus is on equipping young women to overcome the mental and physical challenges that come with continued participation in sport. Change is needed – and Podium can be part of the change.

“Today female athletes are looked upon as role models. Fitness is far more a way of life and people are proud to be healthy, it’s something that women aspire to. It’s an incredibly positive change but it must be nurtured and sustained.”

Thankfully, society has also changed since my days as a young sportswoman. Today female athletes are looked upon as role models. Fitness is far more a way of life and people are proud to be healthy, it’s something that women aspire to. It’s an incredibly positive change but it must be nurtured and sustained.

When I was at Sport England there was an interesting campaign called ‘This Girl Can’. That was based on research around women’s fear of being judged. Jessica Ennis-Hill is an incredible, gold medal-winning athlete – but if we always use someone like that as a role model, some girls might look at her and think “I'm never going to get that far. I don't want to be judged against that standard, therefore I'm going to stop”.

‘This Girl Can’ said “You know what? You can do it. You just get out there and you can do it. And the fact that you're trying is great. And not everyone can be number one, but the fact that you're making the effort is fantastic, and you won't be judged”. It was a very positive and successful campaign.

There is also more understanding about the differences between how men and women play sport. The way that women train is different. We now know that we should be training differently during our menstrual cycle. I broke my hip when I was 50 and it was put down to the fact that I trained every single week in the same way. We now have more of an understanding of the female body, of female development, what it's like to be a woman and understanding the differences. 

As Wimbledon draws near – and my role as chair of the All England Club becomes ever-more hectic – I think about how far we have come in recognising those differences and promoting the positive values of sport for young women. Whether they are competing on Centre Court, watching from the stands, or picking up a racket for the first time, I hope this year’s Championship inspires them all.