Who We Are

SEEN in Sport is a UK network for anyone (male or female) who is passionate about sport, such as professional athletes, amateur competitors, grassroots participants, recreational sport enthusiasts, coaches, officials, staff on sports bodies, club managers, trustees of sports boards, volunteers and parents of kids who are developing a love of sport.

A black and white photo of women rugby players engaging in a scrum during a game.

SEEN stands for Sex Equity and Equality Network

There are SEEN groups in several sectors, such as in health, the civil service, journalism and the arts.

SEEN in Sport sprang up as a grassroots organisation because we saw that well-intentioned ideas about inclusion had led to policy decisions in sport which eroded the integrity of the Female Sport category. We saw the harm these policies did to ourselves, our daughters, our female athletes and our teammates .

Our founding team was made up of a former elite athlete, a senior coach, a key official from within a major sports governing body, a sport academic and a parent of a Team GB daughter. We all have one common driving force, the restoration of fair sport for all females at every level, from grassroots to elite. It's not just about competitive sport; we want every woman and girl to have the opportunity to enjoy the unique camaraderie of a female-only activity in a recreational sport environment.

SEEN in Sport was created with several aims:

  • First, to create a support network to the people who care about restoring integrity to sport.

  • Second, to amplify the voices of our members.

  • Third, to raise awareness about the issue and provide a resources respository (on the law, the harms, public opinion, scientific research and our member testimonials) for those who wish to better understand.

  • Fourth, to support sports governing bodies and leaders in sport to create lawful policies which create fairness and generate true inclusion.

A shuttlecock lying on a green badminton court with white boundary lines.
A close-up view of a basketball hoop and backboard against a blue sky.
A red running track with numbered lanes from 1 to 6 in white, viewed from ground level.
Two blue table tennis paddles and a white ping pong ball on a blue table tennis table.

A note on language

There is much confusion about language. The Supreme Court has clarified that the words "man" and "woman" only refer to biological sex. Moreover the terms "transwoman" or "transman" are not terms that exist in law. The Public Sector Equality Duty specifies that "gender identity" is not a term in law and should not be used. The legal term in the Equality Act 2010 is "transsexual persons."

For reasons of accuracy and clarity, SEEN in Sport will only use the terms "woman," "girl" or "female" to refer to biological females and only use the terms "man," "boy" or "male" to refer to biological males. Where we are quoting someone directly, we may use their language but will endeavour to clarify the biological sex where relevant. When a biological male has an identity where he believes himself to be female or neither male nor female, we will refer to a trans-identifying male. Likewise, where a female who has an identity where she believes herself to be male or neither male nor female, we will refer to a trans-identifying female.

The purpose of this is to give clarity because sport is played with our physical bodies, not with an identity. Sex is directly relevant for categorisation in sport so discussion on the topic requires clear language.