What began as a flicker in 2022 has become a wildfire: from one match in silence to a summer of stadiums erupting with women’s sport.
From Silence to Roars
In 2021, I sat in the near-empty stands at Edgbaston for a women’s T20. The crack of the bat echoed in silence, the crowd barely mustering more than a polite applause. I remember thinking: How is this not being seen? I started Rosa Talks Ball that day, part love letter to women’s sport and part protest against the silence that surrounded it.
Now fast forward four summers.
This year I sat in the press box at The Oval, just over 100 miles away, watching nearly 17,000 fans rise to their feet as Davina Perrin smashed her first century in The Hundred. Just the second ever for a woman in the competition and the second fastest irrespective of gender. The roar was deafening.
Women’s sport wasn’t fighting to be seen – it was the headline. What started as frustration in 2021 has become a front-row seat to the transformation of women’s sport. However, it wouldn’t be fair for me to claim that this was the summer that changed everything.
The Revolution in Women’s Cricket
The transformation of women’s sport hasn’t happened by chance. Take cricket to start. Behind the rising crowds and growing headlines is a restructuring that has reshaped the game from the inside out. The culture shift began in 2020, when the ECB took a leap, offering the first domestic professional contracts. For the first time in England, players who didn’t hold a central contract had the opportunity to exist as a professional. Identity beyond the international stage.
Then came Project Darwin, the ECB’s plan to create a sustainable, tiered domestic system. Building on the success of The Hundred. A statement that women’s cricket could no longer survive on scraps, it needed opportunity. That opportunity came, the game handed back to the eighteen first-class counties. World class facilities, major stadia and most importantly, visibility.
Just over 6,000 filed into The Oval in July for Tier 1 Vitality Blast Finals Day, a level of interest previously unheard of. An environment of colour, noise, and belonging. An environment where women’s cricket wasn’t a sideshow, but the headline act.
That’s what made Davina Perrin’s century in this summer’s Hundred Eliminator feel so symbolic. It wasn’t just about her runs; it was about everything that had been built to make that moment possible. A teenager who was a product of that very system, playing with freedom and fire, on a stage that didn’t exist for her predecessors. Perrin’s century wasn’t simply a personal milestone; it was a cultural one. Proof of what happens when investment meets talent, and when opportunity is met with belief.
However, this movement goes beyond cricket.
The Lionesses Light the Fire
In football, the Lionesses set the tone, 87,192 at Wembley to witness their Euro 2022 victory on home turf. It was Chloe Kelly, sprinting in jubilation with her shirt aloft after poking in the winner, who gave us the image that came to define a cultural turning point. A moment that may have lit the match, but what we’re seeing now is the wildfire.
2025 brought a repeat, success away from home in Switzerland. Up against World Champions Spain, the Lionesses roared once more, Alessia Russo levelled in regular time before Kelly rose again, this time from the penalty spot. Hop, skip and a strike, fired into the back of the net.
And just as Davina Perrin’s hundred signalled cricket’s future, Michelle Agyemang’s fearless emergence for the Lionesses showed that the pipeline is alive in football too. Teenagers stepping onto stages that their predecessors could only dream of, their faces becoming household names.
Red Roses Rising
The Red Roses too, continuing to redefine what women’s rugby could be. The 2025 World Cup on home soil turned their momentum into a movement. Stadiums packed to the rafters, noise as fierce as the tackles. What has so often felt like an amateur struggle for visibility has become a professional spectacle, broadcasted, analysed and celebrated with the seriousness it always deserved.
On the pitch their rugby was as brutal as it was brilliant. Crushing tackles, tactical control, and an attacking flair that thrilled crowds week after week. Ellie Kildunne’s firepower lit up the wings, Meg Jones steered games with vision and poise, and a squad that has carried the burden of expectation for so long finally stepped into their rightful role as history makers.
Then came the main event, a packed-out Twickenham, 81,885 to be precise, willing on a history defining side to overcome Canada, becoming World Champions for the first time since 2014. If the Lionesses lit the flame, the Red Roses fanned it wider still. Proof that women’s sport in England isn’t a one-off phenomenon, but a surge spanning a generation.
Next year it’s the turn of the cricketers, their first ICC tournament on home soil since Anya Shrubsole’s heroics at Lord’s in 2017. Their path still yet decided. Their opportunity though? Endless.
More Than Medals: The Power of Representation
However, this monumental rise isn’t just about silverware. It’s about identity, aspiration. belonging.
When young girls see women on their screens, in their stadiums and in the headlines, they start to believe it’s possible, and that belief is everything. Over the summer, in cricket grounds across the country I’ve spoken to girls who asked their parents for cricket bats after watching The Hundred. I’ve seen schools putting more hours into girls’ football. This summer we’ve seen young girls and boys fill the crowd at the Rugby world Cup.
And perhaps most powerfully, we’re seeing little girls wearing jerseys with women’s names on the back. That’s when you know things are really changing. Attitudes are shifting.
Representation has gone from being a buzzword to being the reality. We are no longer talking about what could be. We are watching it happen.
The Summer That Said Yes
As Arsenal Women’s manager Renée Slegers stated during the 2025 Ballon d’or ceremony, “invest in women”. We’re only just getting started.
For every girl that ever wondered if there was a place for her in sport, this summer answered loud and clear: yes there is.
