Karen Findlay, Rugby Coach and Chief Inspector with the Metropolitan Police 

Karen Findlay is a Scottish rugby coach and former international player who played for the Scotland women’s national rugby union team. She coaches Harlequins Ladies who compete in the Women’s Premiership. She won 85 caps for Scotland and captained the side 52 times. She is a chief inspector with the Metropolitan Police.

John Steele, Executive Director of Sport at Loughborough University, and Chairman of The English Institute of Sport

John Steele has a unique blend of experience in creating and leading high performing teams, developed as a professional sports coach and Chief Executive in the private, public, and not for profit sectors.

He served as an army officer having been trained at the prestigious Royal Military Academy Sandhurst to lead teams in high pressure environments. On leaving the army he worked in the corporate world before becoming a professional rugby player. On finishing a playing career that spanned over 400 first class games,including matches against Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, John turned to coaching and successfully led Northampton Saints to become European Champions. He became Executive Director on the Saints Board during a period of unprecedented off field growth including a share issue and stadium development. Johns experience in rugby union also saw him serve on the England Rugby Board during the successful world cup campaign of 2003 and be appointed as CEO of the Rugby football Union.

The winning of the bid for the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics saw John take up post as CEO of UK Sport, which he led for a six year period through Beijing and into London. His Team GB involvement spans nine different Games including the record breaking Rio Olympics and Paralympics, and the recent winter Games in Pyeongchang.

Having served as Group Chief Executive of the Youth Sport Trust, he is now leading an ambitious change programme as Executive Director of Sport at Loughborough University.

Building on his life long passions of leadership and sport, he founded Unforgiving Minute, a niche consultancy with unique leadership development expertise from high performance sport.

John succeeded Steve Cram as Chairman of the English Institute of Sport. The EIS delivers a range of performance impacting sport science and sport medicine solutions to over 40 Olympic and Paralympic sports along with a select number of non-Olympic sports.

Professor Sophia Jowett

Sophia Jowett, PhD, is a professor of sport and exercise psychology at Loughborough University with research focus on coach-athlete relationship, communication and interaction. She is an accredited sport and exercise psychologist who worked as a consultant for the Greek Olympic team in Athens 2004.

Katy Daley-Mclean MBE, Rugby Player

Katy Mclean MBE is one of the UK’s most high profile Sportswomen, and has developed an imitable reputation as both a player and a leader. Born in South Shields in December 1985, she has amassed both an enviable career record and a high profile within the sport. Following in the footsteps of Dad David and uncle Harold, Katy began taking part in the game at the age of 5 and was involved in mixed rugby from the ages of 6 to 12 years of age.

Although forced to pursue other sports including hockey, netball and football until the age of 16 as there were no girls’ teams in the region, Katy soon returned to her first passion and excelled, representing England for U18, U19, Academy and England A sides. At the age of 31 Katy is now the highest England point scorer of all time with 401 in 90 matches. Katy also held the England captaincy for over four years and led her nation to a famous IRB World Cup victory at the Jean Bouin stadium, Paris in 2014.

Having achieved the ultimate honour in the 15 a side version of the game Katy was one of only 20 players in 2014 to be offered a full-time 7’s contract by the RFU. She went on to represent the British Women’s Sevens squad in the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, contributing 17 points from a try and six conversions during the global event.

In 2017 Katy was offered a full-time contract again, this time in the 15 a side verison of the game, where she earned her place back as England’s first choice fly half. She went on to play a key role in securing Englands place in the 2017 Womens Rugby World Cup Final against New Zealand in Ireland.