By Business & Finance 
20×20, a KPMG supported national movement to champion girls and women in sport, aims to get a 20 percent increase in participation in sport by women, and coverage of women’s sport by the end of 2020.
The 20×20 programme, the first initiative of its kind in Ireland, presented by The Federation of Irish Sport and supported by the Northern Ireland sports forum, is supported by KPMG. Its aim is simple–to create a measurable cultural shift in society through a 20% increase in participation, media coverage and attendance in women’s sport by 2020.
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According to Emer McGrath, KPMG’s Lead Partner on this exciting project;
The ambition and talent of Irish women in sport deserves equal recognition and 20×20 can make a significant difference to this objective.”
KPMG supports the aims of 20×20 in many ways – including sponsoring Irish professional golfer Leona Maguire, who recently secured her card to play on the Women’s PGA tour in the US next year and is also a supporting partner of the three-in-a-row All Ireland-winning Dublin Ladies Gaelic Football team. Dublin’s Captain Sinéad Aherne works with KPMG and led the Dubs to victory in front of a record attendance of over 56,000 people.
Other ambassadors for the campaign include Stephanie Meadow (Investec’s Ambassador for 20×20), Louise Quinn (Irish International & Arsenal Footballer and Three’s Ambassador for 20×20), Sarah Rowe (Mayo Senior Ladies Footballer and Lidl’s Ambassador for 20×20) andLaura Twomey (Dublin Senior Camogie Player and AIG’s Ambassador for 20×20).
International strategies and research reports, which aim to improve female participation in sport, acknowledge that the shortage of female role models is a significant factor. 20×20 was originated and developed by the creative agency Along Came A Spider to showcase the range and breadth of Irish females involved in sport and create a measurable cultural shift in our perception of women’s sport so that it will be seen as something strong, valuable and worth celebrating.
The campaign calls on the people of Ireland and all those involved in Irish sport and physical activity to get behind female sport in a concerted effort to increase media coverage, boost attendances and ultimately, grow involvement in female sport and physical activity by 20% by the end of 2020.
The 20×20 movement has gathered serious momentum since its launch. Recent research from Nielsen Sports found that 59% of Irish people believe that the media should do more to promote female sport, with 57% wanting to see equality in female and male sporting role models in media. In addition, 63% of people would like to see Ireland’s sportswomen become national heroes in the same way as our sportsmen. The initiative won ‘The Gamechanger’ award for 2019 at Irish Tatler’s Women of the Year Award and the Sporting Innovation of the Year Award at the 2019 Irish Sport Industry Awards.
