'I want to team up with Laureus to make sure every girl has access to sport’ – Stanway sets her goal at ICON conference
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At an event that saw Almudena Fernández become a Laureus Ambassador, one of the stars of England’s Lionesses challenged all athletes to make a difference.
As England’s women’s football team prepare to defend the European title they won three years ago, one of their star players has spoken about the importance of using this golden era to create a legacy that makes sport accessible to girls around the world.
Georgia Stanway, the England and Bayern Munich midfielder, was speaking on a Laureus SportsLab panel at the first Influencers' Conference - ICON - in Lisbon. Joining her to discuss the role of the athlete-influencer was Laureus Academy Member Bryan Habana, the Springbok rugby legend and Almudena Fernández, the model, activist and newly announced Laureus Ambassador.
Habana spoke emotionally about how South Africa’s victory at their home Rugby World Cup in 1995 changed the course of his life, while Fernández – whose Kind Surf programme won the 2024 Laureus España MARCA Sport for Good Honour and was nominated for the Laureus Sport for Good Award at this year’s Laureus World Sports Awards – talked passionately about the importance of using social media to model action over rhetoric.
Georgia Stanway, the England and Bayern Munich midfielder, was speaking on a Laureus SportsLab panel at the first Influencers' Conference - ICON - in Lisbon. Joining her to discuss the role of the athlete-influencer was Laureus Academy Member Bryan Habana, the Springbok rugby legend and Almudena Fernández, the model, activist and newly announced Laureus Ambassador.
Habana spoke emotionally about how South Africa’s victory at their home Rugby World Cup in 1995 changed the course of his life, while Fernández – whose Kind Surf programme won the 2024 Laureus España MARCA Sport for Good Honour and was nominated for the Laureus Sport for Good Award at this year’s Laureus World Sports Awards – talked passionately about the importance of using social media to model action over rhetoric.
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In 2022 Stanway’s extra-time winner in the quarter-final against Spain was one of the pivotal moments of a historic tournament. As Stanway explained, members of that team immediately used their influence to create change for the next generation.
After following up Euro 22 with a run to the final of the World Cup, Stanway is determined to balance continued success with the national team with activism – and hopes that will include further opportunities to work with Laureus.
“It’s important that we used the fact that we won [in 2022] to build something for the next generation,” she said. “When you win, it’s about creating a legacy, and we wanted to make sure that girls’ football was accessible in our country. A few of us wrote letters to the government, making sure that girls’ football was in the school curriculum."
After following up Euro 22 with a run to the final of the World Cup, Stanway is determined to balance continued success with the national team with activism – and hopes that will include further opportunities to work with Laureus.
“It’s important that we used the fact that we won [in 2022] to build something for the next generation,” she said. “When you win, it’s about creating a legacy, and we wanted to make sure that girls’ football was accessible in our country. A few of us wrote letters to the government, making sure that girls’ football was in the school curriculum."
"The reason I want to team up with Laureus is to make sure that every girl has access to sport – whether that’s football or something else they love – and making sure they all have equal access, whether they are in a city or a village, wherever they are geographically."
Stanway continued: “When you become an influencer you become a role model, whether you want that or not, and role models are important for the next generation to see what they should be doing, what it looks like – setting targets in life.
"We must make sure they have the platform, the opportunity, the accessibility and the equality to set their goal as high as possible.”
Fernández used this event to announce her decision to become a Laureus Ambassador, the latest step in a fascinating and inspirational journey that has taken her, in her own words, “from the catwalk to the beach”.
Here she spoke about how seeing inequality as she travelled the world as an elite model inspired her to create change. She has since campaigned on environmental issues for Greenpeace and Oceana and in 2012 founded Kind Surf, which uses surf therapy to reach young people in danger of social exclusion in locations around Spain. Fernández said her story proves that any influencer can activate their audience with authentic examples of their own efforts to create change.
“I couldn’t ignore the social issues around me and I decided to use my platform not only for fashion and beauty but also to create change and to inspire others,” she said.
“Then jumping from the catwalk to the beach – from being the face of a global brand to working with Greenpeace and Oceana, it comes down to the same thing: using your platform to create a better world. And on social media, you have to show what you are doing in that way; you must preach with your actions. That way you can inspire people. Your audience knows when you are just talking and not doing.”
"We must make sure they have the platform, the opportunity, the accessibility and the equality to set their goal as high as possible.”
Fernández used this event to announce her decision to become a Laureus Ambassador, the latest step in a fascinating and inspirational journey that has taken her, in her own words, “from the catwalk to the beach”.
Here she spoke about how seeing inequality as she travelled the world as an elite model inspired her to create change. She has since campaigned on environmental issues for Greenpeace and Oceana and in 2012 founded Kind Surf, which uses surf therapy to reach young people in danger of social exclusion in locations around Spain. Fernández said her story proves that any influencer can activate their audience with authentic examples of their own efforts to create change.
“I couldn’t ignore the social issues around me and I decided to use my platform not only for fashion and beauty but also to create change and to inspire others,” she said.
“Then jumping from the catwalk to the beach – from being the face of a global brand to working with Greenpeace and Oceana, it comes down to the same thing: using your platform to create a better world. And on social media, you have to show what you are doing in that way; you must preach with your actions. That way you can inspire people. Your audience knows when you are just talking and not doing.”
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Habana was moderating this event and asked each of his guests to name their person who had most influenced them, first reflecting on the moment that set him on a path that would lead to a place in the World Rugby Hall of Fame.
“The 1995 Rugby World Cup final team inspired me to take up the game of rugby,” he said. “Seeing Nelson Mandela walk up there in the No.6 Springbok jersey that had been a sign of oppression for so many people, and there hearing Francois Pienaar say that [their victory] wasn’t for the 60,000 in the stadium, it was for 48 million South Africans, that literally changed the course of my life.”
For Stanway and Fernández, the key influences were closer to home. Stanway chose her mother. “She raised kids, she was a teacher and she made sure I had equipment and that I got there on time. My family are still my support network. When I’m in the stadium and the national anthem is playing, I’m always looking for them, because I know I wouldn’t be there if it hadn’t been for their sacrifice and their work.”
And Fernández also put family first. “My grandma told me to believe in yourself. When they give you that confidence, you hit a bump in the road and you can just keep going.”
Finally, Habana issued an invitation to Fernández. Habana has been a patron of Waves for Change, a surf therapy programme based in South Africa, and challenged his guest to organise a crossover with her own programme.
“Let’s get you down to Cape Town and I’ll see you at Waves for Change!” he said.
“The 1995 Rugby World Cup final team inspired me to take up the game of rugby,” he said. “Seeing Nelson Mandela walk up there in the No.6 Springbok jersey that had been a sign of oppression for so many people, and there hearing Francois Pienaar say that [their victory] wasn’t for the 60,000 in the stadium, it was for 48 million South Africans, that literally changed the course of my life.”
For Stanway and Fernández, the key influences were closer to home. Stanway chose her mother. “She raised kids, she was a teacher and she made sure I had equipment and that I got there on time. My family are still my support network. When I’m in the stadium and the national anthem is playing, I’m always looking for them, because I know I wouldn’t be there if it hadn’t been for their sacrifice and their work.”
And Fernández also put family first. “My grandma told me to believe in yourself. When they give you that confidence, you hit a bump in the road and you can just keep going.”
Finally, Habana issued an invitation to Fernández. Habana has been a patron of Waves for Change, a surf therapy programme based in South Africa, and challenged his guest to organise a crossover with her own programme.
“Let’s get you down to Cape Town and I’ll see you at Waves for Change!” he said.
