An 'exciting summer' of women's sport lies ahead

Sitting together, laughing and chatting, at The Oval cricket ground in south London, Ellie Kildunne, Niamh Charles and Sarah Glenn could pass for any other 25-year-olds. But they are professional sportswomen who each have huge summers ahead of them in an England shirt.Footballer Charles is hoping to help the Lionesses defend their Women's Euros title in Switzerland in July, before Kildunne aims to lift the Women's Rugby World Cup in England in September and Glenn targets Cricket World Cup glory in India in the same month.Women's sport takes centre stage across the BBC this summer and it is an ideal time to bring the trio together, to compare and contrast stories and hear how preparations are going.
How big could this year be for your sport?
Footballer Niamh Charles: We know that the expectation is going to be there after winning in 2022. It's such an exciting prospect but it's not the exact same as we're a new team. The women's game is growing so much. All the other teams have got so much better as well. It's about who turns up in the tournament.We're lucky we've had lots of good games before to prepare so I think we're not looking to peak right now, but when it comes to the Euros we're going to hopefully have used all those games to be in the best position from that first game and see what happens.Cricketer Sarah Glenn: We had a really tough winter [England lost 16-0 to Australia in the Women's Ashes]. We've got the India series coming up this summer at home and those games can be quite chaotic sometimes.We're good rivals, we get good crowds in and obviously there will be that pressure there.But for us, it's just a great opportunity to show how good we are and to get those wins and, obviously with Lottie [head coach Charlotte Edwards] coming in and Nat Sciver-Brunt as the new captain too, it will be like a breath of fresh air for the group.It's a really exciting summer. I trust in the process and let the outcome take care of itself.Rugby union player Ellie Kildunne: People expect a lot from us, being a successful team.But we were expected to win the last World Cup and we didn't, so it is a really huge tournament. Everyone shows up for major tournaments so it doesn't matter what the world's saying about how well they expect us to do, we know there's a lot of work to be done.The fact that people are expecting something massive from us is a very cool and special place to be, but we know that there's work to be done still.We're still looking to improve, we can still get better and as long as we can keep striving for better and the best, I think we'll be in a very good spot come this World Cup.
When did you decide to become a professional athlete?
Kildunne: I played quite a lot of sports growing up and I didn't really know what path to go down, because I just loved playing sport.When I was playing rugby for Gloucester, I was also sneaking home on the weekends and playing football.Then I got asked to play rugby for England and was given a contract. That's when I knew that it could be a profession, and I could be a full-time athlete.We're really getting into that place now where the game is definitely growing. There's more investment going into it and you can see that professionalism, and how that can really accelerate the growth of the sport. Glenn: I played cricket and hockey. Balancing those two was pretty tough and I did think about which path I wanted to take. I played in the Kia Super League in 2017 and it was my first professional tournament. It was really inspiring because we were getting crowds in and there were young kids coming to watch us, and we could chat to them afterwards.When I picked up my first England contract, even though that was amazing, there wasn't too much structure to the domestic game. There was a huge amount of pressure on that England contract because otherwise I'd have to pick up a job alongside that.Now, more contracts have come into our domestic league. I can represent England and my county, which I'm really proud to do as well. And that for me was the biggest turning point. No matter who I was, I could make cricket my lifestyle.
How much do you look to older team-mates who have seen the progression and professionalism of women's sport?
Charles: That's always a conversation. And I would say the generation that's coming through now will have it even better than us, and that's what we're striving for in the women's game.When I speak to Lucy Bronze, she talks of working two jobs and doing loads of different things to get to the professional point now.I see her in meetings, advocating for how much the women's game is growing. The revenues have grown, the investments are growing and she's really at the forefront of that because she's had to battle.The women's game has grown and I think 20-year-old Lucy wouldn't believe what it would be now. She's been massive in forcing the women's game to keep up with how it's growing, she's pushing it, but also advocating for what we deserve and making sure that we're growing and it's sustainable.Kildunne: As a team you don't really see an age. I know that there's girls who have been through two World Cups and for some, this will be their first World Cup. So we do a lot of collaboration of what to expect.We do a lot of connection points with the vintage Red Roses on how women's rugby started. We remember the heritage of it and one of our sayings and values that we go for is 'do it for the girls'.It's for the younger generation, the girls in our team and the girls that came before us. And I think that makes what we do a little bit more powerful.You've still got that inner passion to do more than what it is. The game is not just winning, it's much bigger than that.To do it for the girls that came before, but also inspire the next generation and take it to a place beyond where it's ever been.Glenn: I was in the crowd when England women won the World Cup in 2017 and I literally went as a big super fan, and was cheering the girls on.I thought it was amazing and I had a moment where I thought 'I really want to be a part of this' - because at that point I was training hard, but I didn't know if I could quite make it.I was involved with the England junior academies and then when I started training with the senior girls, I was training with Heather [Knight], and Katherine [Sciver-Brunt], who were a part of that World Cup.They've seen where the game was and where it is now, and how much they've grown the game. They really took me in as a youngster and now I feel like I've started to become one of the senior players, which is really weird to say. It's amazing to see that path grow.
All aged 25 and in your prime?
Kildunne: It was weird when I got World Player of the Year at 24 [years old]. I kind of didn't want it then because I didn't feel like I was at my best yet, and I still don't.I feel like I'm learning game to game where I can improve and get better. You can always get better. I don't think I'm ever going to be at the peak. I'd hope to never be at the peak of my game because I think you can always improve.Charles: The last day before I retire, I should hopefully be at my best. I'd know everything, I'll have been around the block and I think every day I'm learning different margins about myself, like how I can get better in little things. So I like to tell myself as I get older that I'm just hopefully getting better and better. The best is yet to come, hopefully.Glenn: I've definitely learned how I go about things. In terms of my actual game, I feel like there's still so much more in me to give.

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