From running rugby in the Philippines to bossing basketball Down Under – the women blazing a trail in Asia-Pacific sports leadership
- Philippine Rugby Football Union president Ada Milby looks to clear the way for more women to take seats in their own sports
- New Zealand board member Megan Compain and FIBA Oceania executive Amanda Jenkins are driving change to pave path for women in basketball
Philippine Rugby Football Union president Ada Milby can’t help but describe herself in rugby terms even when it comes to her own sports leadership journey.
Her job, as she sees it, is to clear the way for more women to take seats in their own sports, after earning leadership positions in Asia Rugby and becoming the first woman to be named into the World Rugby Council in 2017.
“So I see myself as the person clearing the ruck and I’m just creating the space for more women to flood the space to take on leadership,” Milby said.
Milby is just one of the success stories of the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) push for gender equality in Olympic bodies. In the Olympic Agenda in 2020, the IOC remains committed to reaching the minimum target of 40 per cent women representation in the executive positions in sports governing bodies.
Though the world is now supporting the elimination of gender bias in a space that was once dominated by men, women in sports leadership find themselves with new challenges and exciting opportunities to further even the playing field.
