Unlock your potential with the Women's Sport Trust 'Unlocked' programme
The Women’s Sport Trust (WST) is calling on elite female athletes to apply for Unlocked, the organisation’s flagship athlete leadership and development programme.
The Trust describes Unlocked as an initiative that ‘empowers athletes to use their own platforms, voices, and unique perspectives to create change, while coming together as a collective to shape the future of women’s sport.’
For the 2025 programme, the WST is looking to recruit 35 elite female athletes. This will be a diverse group of women representing different sports (team/individual, traditional/emerging, Olympic/Non-Olympic, winter/summer) age groups, ethnicity, types of athletes - including para-athletes – and aspiring/competing/retired athletes (national and/or international level).
The one thing all the athletes will have in common is a shared ambition to make an impact on the issues that matter to them. Unlocked is open to female athletes aged 18 and over, previously or currently competing at an elite level, with a connection to the UK, whether UK athletes based overseas or international athletes competing domestically.
In practice, the Unlocked programme will be a combination of:
- Community: Building a new network of other elite athletes who face similar challenges and opportunities. To create the ultimate girl squad for support and inspiration.
- Hangouts: Catch-up with the WST team and the other athletes. Hear each other’s stories, learn from sport industry insiders in our ‘spotlight sessions’ and discuss relevant topics in breakout groups sharing knowledge and ideas
- Learning: Through webinars provided by the best experts in the business; how to create a website, understand how to gain sponsorship, find out more about the media, fast-track athletes’ social channels or hear from lawyers on issues around contracys
- Connections: Connecting athletes with an ‘activator’, a leader from business, media or sport who will help you understand your mission and help make it happen
- Visibility: Providing opportunities to increase athletes’ visibility through media opportunities, developing content, speaking engagements and social media.
Unlocked is a powerful community of elite female athletes in the UK, focused on helping them identify their unique voices, plan for their futures, and leverage their influence to drive positive change in sport and beyond. It empowers athletes to articulate their identities, amplify their voices, and strategically navigate opportunities in media, commercial spaces, and leadership roles.
Women’s Sport Trust
For more information and an application pack, go to the WST HERE
And hear from other Unlocked athletes in this WST video.
