Dame Sue Campbell
/In this post, there is a list of the advanced words and phrases from the BBC Radio 4 Desert Island Discs interview with Dame Sue Campbell, the Diector of Women’s Football at the FA (Football Association). Aggie and I have created a podcast explaining the Desert Island Discs interviews called Radio English.
You can listen to the original BBC DESERT ISLAND DISCS interview here.
Here is the link to my podcast on itunes or just listen to it below:
We discuss these words/phrases in the interview:
to lag behind
rogue
to have a competitive streak
to sneak off
to collapse
to bombard
to faint
an unsung hero
to faint
austerity
to reach out
INTRO
Director of Women’s Football at the FA
Lionesses made it to the semi final of world cup
0:53 Presided over blossoming of the sport
As a PE teacher where she witnessed the power of sport
Inspiring and creating change ever since
1:15 Played netball for England
1:17 Always a trailblazer First female sports lecturer at Loughborough
Chair of UK Sport
Oversaw the largest medal haul ever at London 2012
I believe in the power of sport, I’ve felt it. It’s in my heart and my head
Perhaps only music and sport can speak to kids that way
WOMEN’S SEMI FINAL
6 million of us watched the first of the lionesses’ games on TV
2:03 Lots of pubs packed to watch
2:11 85,000 watched the friendly against Germany
I think its remarkable, even if you’d said that to me a year ago I would’ve said that’s not likely
11.7 mill watched the semi final
2:32 Girls’ and womens’ sport has always lagged behind with numbers playing and with supporters
BIGGEST CHALLENGE GROWING WOMENS FOOTBALL
3:06 Double participation, double the fan base, win the world cup in 2023
Didn’t quite get there in 2019
I stand on the shoulders of a lot of women who pioneered women's football
3:21 It was banned for about 50 years from 1921
When men went away to war, women working in munitions factory started playing football, then when men returned from war women were told it wasn’t for them anymore
3:49 Women pioneered the resurrection of womens football
Getting people to take women’s football seriously
4:07 Changing mindsets is hardest
It is different
Still got a long way to go
FA MALE DOMINATED
4:37 They call me the rogue monkey - the one that causes all the disruption
If you want to change things sometimes you’ve got to disrupt things
5:03 FA’s Chief Hugger
→ With the players!
They have fought their way to the top, respect and admire enormously
FIRST DISC (DARE TO DREAM)
Dedicated to the women who pioneered and the lionesses
Not constrained by what was possible
Hopefully to the future lionesses as well
SPORT WAS YOUR THIRD PARENT
DAD
6:41 He really impressed the importance of sport on you
Number 1 supporter and coach
PLayed cricket in pitch black when he got home from work
Both working class
High emphasis on our education
Took us to Skegness because the ‘air was better there’
My life was just sport
If I wanted to try something they took me and let me have a go
7:35 Natural competitive streak
7:41 It needed a little tempering at times
When I wanted to win and didn’t. All England Schools Athletics Championships
7:57 throwing discus at the time
Lost again and again and kept losing
Mum and dad looking out kitchen window, threw kit into the dustbin
By the end of the chat I got my stuff out of the dustbin
Be history or make history - he convinced me my job was to make history
Next year I won at ESAC
Teaches you to learn how to fail
MOTHER
8:59 Ran a hairdressers
Entrepreneurial - spent money getting the bus
Started working there on her own - within a few years she’d opened 3 shops!
You don’t realise how wonderful they are until they’re not there or you’re much older
I never got the opportunity to say how much I loved them
SECOND DISC (THE MUSIC OF MY HEART)
The message I would’ve love to give to my mum and dad
Sport, music, relationships
10:33 So many thing that have kept me sane and happy and I owe it all to them
SCHOOL Always in trouble
Youngster with very high energy
11:37 I was feral really
Didn’t do well at school initially
PE teacher sat me down and said what do you want to be
→ Told me I should be a PE teacher
I worry nowadays that we put huge pressure on our children on exam results
We need physically literate children as well
Played football in the street
Gained a lot of skills from just fun play at school
Education is not just about exams its about preparing you for life
Wasn’t a shining star at school but I was head girl
PLAYING FOOTY IN STREETS
Got to secondary school and I was told girls didn’t play football
Didn’t realise I was a girl ! Didn’t see girls play football on the TV
13:43 That was a big blow to me
13:44 Didn’t you use to sneak off to play football at another school
Mum and dad sent me to a private school
On the bus on the way to school - they’d play before school so I’d get off the school and play football
School rang to find out why I wasn’t coming into school
LATER AT SCHOOL + UNIVERSITY
14:33 pentathlete at school
Captain of U21s whilst training to be a PE teacher
Playing for your country in those days, you paid for your own kit, transport, accomodation
Wasn’t the best player
15:03 warmed an awful lot of benches (benchwarmer)
Learnt a lot sitting on the bench
15:21 goosebumps doesn’t describe it
So anxious but so proud
To hear the national anthem - makes me feel so vibrant and alive
THIRD DISC (LAND OF HOPE AND GLORY)
Joy of people enjoying and celebrating being together
Speaks volumes to me about being proud of your country
DAD DIED AT 21 - THE IMPACT
The initial response was to be concerned for Mum
She was close to exhaustion
17:52 As I began to move forward I think it had a deep psychological impact on me
Bit by bit I realised I was falling into not depression but an introspective feeling
18:08 I became anorexic
A deep sadness, a deep feeling of loss, a deep feeling of confusion
I kept playing international sport
Very focused
18:46 It frightened my mum to death
My mother gave me life twice - when I was born and at that moment
Had a bit of flu and I collapsed
‘She’s going to die you know’
Doctor - “I hope you realise you’re having a huge impact on your mother”
Can I have some rice pudding or something?
That bond between the two of us was enough to re engage me back
Took me a lot longer than I realise to recover
I still am careful with diet
20:15 I don’t eat lavishly now but I eat well now
A stronger bond
Recognising that she meant more to me than I meant to myself 20:59 You mentioned how well you were at being regimented
HOW BIG AN ISSUE DO YOU THINK DISORDERED EATING IS WITH SPORT
Can be an issue
Be careful with young women -
21:24 they’re bombarded on social media what they’re supposed to look like
Add that sporting mentality - be the best at whatever you do even if its dieting
21:42 You have to marry up the intake with the output
FOURTH DISC (SUSAN BOYLE)
Reflection of my teaching days
The kids taught me my job was to teach children (not the sports)
Never judge a book by its cover - some remarkable women
The moment when Susan Boyle was on Britain's Got Talent for her audition She came onto the stage and everyone was laughing and then she was singing
CLASS AT SCHOOL IN MANCHESTER
3 years of good professional development
First lesson was netball, standing in changing rooms, lesson plan, clean tracksuit
Nobody came!
24:37 4O all having a cigarette in the bathroom - nearly fainted
I said “Hi excuse me are you 4O” They said “Don’t do PE miss, it breaks your nails”
24:55 I was completely stumped
I sat down on the floor because I thought I was going to faint - the best thing I could’ve done
One of them offered me a cigarette because I looked rough!
I asked them what they liked to do - clubbing
So I said next week, bring the music you like to dance to, you don’t have to change if that’s a problem and they came!
Same person who offered me a cigarette came to me and said, we want to form a dance group
→ Wanted to compete, great leader, good teacher
25:55 She had to do choreography
Given the right context, sport, dance, can change lives
26:09 if you label children as bad, naughty…
WHY ARE SPORT AND MUSIC ABLE TO REACH KIDS
27:05 If you don’t like sitting in a classroom, then learn kinesthetically
Unlocks something that opens you to learning
It connects with young people that the intellectual subjects can’t do
FIFTH DISC - WIND BENEATH MY WINGS
27:47 coaches are unsung heroes
Coaches working in the pouring rain
1995 YOUTH SPORTS TRUST - JOHN BECKWITH
What would you spend £1 million on
I’m really good at finding money
Motivation in working with John and setting this up
If you gave young people a sporting start in life, could you help them do well?
Initiatives showed they were performing better academically
30:19 You changed the school ethos if sport was embedded into school
A lot of schools aren't giving students enough physical education
2003 VOUCHER SCHEME
Collaboration on voucher scheme with Cadburys
Criticised as there was rising obesity
I learned how the media can take a really good story and turn it into a really bad one
The discussions with Cadburys were really deep and meaningful
31:36 Paula Radcliffe helped us launch it because she eats no end of chocolate
The message was “calories in calories out”
There are no bad foods, only excess
31:53 If I were more media savvy then I would've worked out that would happen
The great advocate that making sure the people we work with are the people we want to
32:23 You’re sending a message whether you do it subliminally or not
PASS THE TEST OF DEALING WITH CRITICISM
32:46 Summoned to Number 11 and being harangued by Gordon and others
Life is a series of lessons
We all make mistakes
SIXTH TRACK (PROUD)
Young people in challenging circumstances
People need to feel good about who they are
Young people discover they can be proud of themselves
WINNING AND WORLD CLASS SUCCESS
Which young athletes should get funding etc
Excellence is a scientific piece of work
Need everything around them for that one successful moment
35:37 Had a team of meteorologists for the wind for the sailors
Need to get every single element to be world-class
‘No compromise’ on quality
LONDON 2012
36:29 Of course it paid off with record medal tally
Watching 6 young people light the flame
These 2 worlds of mine became one
I was in the Royal Box, the Queen was there
Super Saturday!
That feeling of pride in our athletes, Britain, what London put on
37:31 It transcended the individual sports, it was national
“Sport has more power than governments to effect change”
What about the legacy of 2012
Has it boosted participation as much as we wanted to
Inspire a generation of people to choose sport
Therefore sport must be embedded in schools
SEVENTH DISC (WHITNEY HOUSTON ONE MOMENT IN TIME)
39:22 Elite sportsmen and women get that one moment in time, culmination of years of sacrifice
Either realise that dream or that dream gets dashed on the rock
BUDGET CUTS
40:16 in 2010 at the start of the austerity program when there were cuts of £160 m
Worked so hard to build a structure and system
Was a bit like watching the house burn down that you’d just built
Deeply depressing, probably one of the lowest points in my professional career
WHERE ARE WE NOW
Got more funding now than ever before
Assumes all headteachers are doing the right thing
My view is that the money being spent now is not being spent as well as it was before
When a youngster gets to 10/11 we should care as much about physical literacy as we care about literate/numeracy
Want young people should be able to try a range of activities, and school sport to be linked to clubs
WHAT IS IT LIKE TO WORK WITH YOU
42:48 I am determined and resilient
I hope people alongside me feel empowered by me
This is about “can I change the world through sport”
RETIREMENT
The dogs would be happy if I retired
Whilst I’ve got the mental energy then I want to be involved
EIGHTH DISC (SOMEBODY’S HAND)
Sums up how I feel about society
We’re very lucky to live in this country
I’ve had a blessed and privileged life
44:21 We should at least reach out to those who aren’t as lucky
CASTAWAY
I will miss the dogs!
Book: Long Walk to Freedom - Nelson Mandela
45:30 The ultimate missionary for me
Understood power of sport
Luxury: Some pictures that would remind me of this amazing journey I’ve been on and how special it is to be a part of sport
One Disc: Music of my heart
Would never have achieved what I have done without my parents