Are you considering a career in sport? In this podcast we meet Tess Howard MBE, a GB Olympian, athlete, changemaker, trailblazer and academic.

Tess is an elite hockey player, representing her country at the highest level, including the Paris Olympics in 2024 and the Commonwealth Games in 2022, where she was part of the winning team, earning a gold medal. Tess established the Inclusive Sportswear Foundation, to build a future where sportswear is not a barrier to participation, enjoyment and performance in sport, especially for women and girls.

In 2023 Tess won the Changemaker Award at the Sunday Times Sportswomen of the Year Awards, which recognised her campaign to amend international kit regulations allowing athletes freedom in their choice of clothing in competitions.

Tess was awarded an MBE in the 2025 New Year Honours.

In this conversation Tess and Claire Ziwa discuss topics including:

Playing hockey for team GB at the Paris Olympics in 2024.
Dealing with setbacks and an ACL injury that prevented Tess from going to the Olympics in Tokyo.
Being part of the winning team at the Commonwealth Games.
Reading Geography at University.
The barriers to girls playing sport.
The effects of gendered school sport uniform on girls’ participation in sport.
Gender coding at schools.
Getting more girls to play sport and to understand the benefits.
Body image.
The impact of the clothes that boys and girls wear and playing sport.
Launching the Inclusive Sportswear Foundation.
Campaigning for change.
Future hopes and plans.

Find out more about the Inclusive Sportswear https://www.inclusivesportswear.com/

You can also watch this podcast on The Perse School Cambridge YouTube channel:

https://youtu.be/sun5e1g9N_k