UCFB celebrates International Women’s Day 2025

UCFB is delighted to be celebrating International Women’s Day 2025 by highlighting our female students, graduates, staff and guest speakers.

UCFB sees the rise of female involvement both inside the classroom through the number of female students applying to our sports industry-focused degree courses, and outside across the industry, with our female graduates thriving in careers across sport.

“Women like sport,” said UCFB guest speaker and Sky Sports presenter Clare Tomlinson, “we do like sport, we probably always have. But now it’s important that that’s embraced.”

One such example is Jemma Entwistle, who studied BA (Hons) Sports Business and Coaching at UCFB before studying a postgraduate degree in MSc Football Coaching and Performance Analysis.

She said: “I’ve gone from being one of the only females on my course, to now seeing more and more females at UCFB and also in the industry. It’s brilliant and I’m really passionate about supporting that growth.”

Jemma works as the Football Association’s women’s regional talent manager, in a time where the women’s game continues to grow at all levels from grassroots to elite level.

Globally, women’s football surpassed $1 billion in revenue in 2024, a 300 per cent increase since 2021.

Furthermore, women’s football attendance levels have risen by 38 per cent in the UK, sponsorship agreements have grown 22 per cent, and live viewings of WSL matches reached 1.5 million in 2024-25.

And it’s not just in football where UCFB’s graduates are thriving. In golf, Mia Hynes, a BA (Hons) Stadium and Events Management graduate, now works as an accreditation executive at the DP World Tour.

“I have loved my time in golf so far,” she said. “I get to travel the world watching golfers I grew up learning from, completing work that challenges me and allows me to aid my professional development.”

In tennis, BA (Hons) Sports Business and Sports Law graduate Cassandra Aina is a community project planner at The All England Lawn and Tennis Club.

She was recently invited back to UCFB Wembley as part of our Women in Sport Conference, held at both Wembley Stadium and UCFB Manchester.

At the event, she said: “I have a passion for diversity and inclusion, and getting more people, whether they’re from different genders, different cultures or different religions, into the sports industry, and how we can make it more inclusive as a whole.”

Our annual Women in Sport conferences, which provide plenty of industry insight and networking opportunities, are just some of the female-focused events and experiences available at UCFB.

In addition to these specific events, we also welcome multiple women from across the sports industry, whether it’s broadcasters such as Hayley McQueen or players including Kelly Smith.

UCFB also recently hosted the Women’s Raise Your Game Event at UCFB Manchester, alongside industry partners Kick It Out, which saw industry leaders come in and offer guidance on how to continue the growth of female involvement across the sports industry.

Our women’s coaching society is also a fantastic opportunity for our female students to join a community of next generation sports industry leaders.

A major part of UCFB showing our aim to grow the number of women working across the sports industry has been through our many female-focused scholarships, such as our Women in Sport Scholarship.

Graduate Lucy Cross was accepted onto our She Can Coach Scholarship, and used the opportunities and experiences available to make the most out of her time at UCFB.

UCFB’s many scholarships are open for anybody applying for one of our degree courses tailored to the football and wider sports industry.

Take a look at where many of our female graduates are working across the global football and wider sports industry.