We had the opportunity to chat with the amazing Sue Anstiss a few months back, for the LoveReading LitFest about her book Game On, The Unstoppable Rise of Women's Sport.

Shortlisted for the Sunday Times Sports Book Awards 2022 and Longlisted for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year 2021 it investigates why women have been excluded from the world of sport for centuries - and why we are now witnessing positive change as never before. Never more true than this weekend and the incredible achievements of our Lionesses.

Speaking to Sue in our LitFest event, she expressed her thoughts on how women's sport has an opportunity to do things differently, and quoting from Sue's book Game On: " Sport has a unique capacity to challenge and change society." Highlighting the important roles of women in sport will encourage and excite our young children and future sports stars.

In an extract from her book, Sue says: "We don't want to take over, we just want to take part."

Sue worked in sports marketing and sports PR for over 30 years, delivering highly successful campaigns to get more women and girls taking part in sport and physical activity. Her clients included sports governing bodies and organisations, teams, charities, major events and brands.

A founding Trustee of the Women’s Sport Trust, in 2018 Sue received an MBE for her services to grassroots and women’s sport.

Sue is also host of the award-winning podcast The Game Changers and co-founder of the Women’s Sport Collective. 

In recent years, the landscape for women's sport has finally begun to shift. We've seen significant increases in investment, spectators and media coverage; more women as professional athletes and taking influential roles as board directors, editors, officials and CEOs.

Yet female athletes still don't get equal opportunities or funding. In many sports, women receive less prize money, lower sponsorship revenues and a tiny fraction of the media coverage. Drawing on her own experiences, and interviews with high profile Olympic and Paralympic champions, broadcasters, journalists, sports scientists, CEOs, officials and sponsors, Game On is a celebration of the trailblazing women opening doors for others and a manifesto for women's sport - a rallying cry to ensure the progress we are currently seeing goes from strength to strength.

After this week's events, now more than ever we need to actively drive awareness of women's sport.

Publishers and agents are expecting a surge in interest for books on women’s football following England’s win at Euro 2022 this weekend, with high demand for biographies of the players.  

The Lionesses won their first major trophy as they beat Germany 2–1 in extra time at Wembley on 31st July, with 17.4 million people tuning into to watch. 

Huw Armstrong, editorial director at Hodder & Stoughton, said the win was “a massive moment for the game” and he’s been on “a bit of a high since”. He told The Bookseller: “I think naturally there’s going to be interest in this area. There are some brilliant books already out there which look at the women’s game, like A Woman’s Game by Suzy Wrack. I can imagine those getting a lift."

Let's hope we see some brilliant books on our horizon from these fearless women who have got an incredible story to tell. 

In the meantime, scroll to see some of our favourite books on sport for and by women. Bravo to all of these women out there breaking boundaries and changing the landscape for us all.

If you'd like to see a collection of children's books celebrating women in sport too, head over to LoveReading4Kids.

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