From budding young athlete to the first female President of the Commonwealth Games Federation, QM alumna Dame Louise Martin, has been a trailblazer for women in sports administration. She gives us a fascinating insight into her leadership role, sharing some of her memories of working with sports representatives across the Commonwealth.
Role
Put simply, as President of the Commonwealth Games Federation until 2023, my role was to lead the organisation with a key focus of bringing the Commonwealth family together. Yes, sport may be the driver behind this, but bringing the Commonwealth countries together is our main aim.
How I got here
I’ve always loved sport. I was fortunate enough to represent Scotland in swimming, reaching the finals in what was then the 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games in Perth, Australia.
Combining my love of sport and food nutrition, I decided to focus on my studies for a while and applied to the Edinburgh College of Domestic Science (now ĢƵ). From there, I went on to lecture at the college, and taught home economics in various schools across Edinburgh.
After having a family, I devoted most of my career to sports administration.
"I was the first woman to chair Scotland’s Commonwealth Games Council, taking up post in 1999. I was then the first woman to join the Executive Board of the Commonwealth Games Federation, serving as Secretary from 1999 to 2015, and the first female to be elected President of the Federation in 2015."
I was in the role for two four-year terms (the maximum time a President can serve for), with November 2023 marking the official end of my role.
A typical day
No such thing! I often say that no two days are the same, but there are plenty similarities! Most of my days would be spent speaking with my colleagues across the Commonwealth. I would be working across so many different time zones which could make things interesting to say the least, but advancing technology has made things much easier in recent years.
I always say that we need to work with people, not have them work with us. It’s a subtle difference but getting up at 4am to meet with colleagues in New Zealand makes a massive difference than having them get up at 4am to meet with us.
Day-to-day, I could wake up in London, be on an early morning call to India, followed by a meeting with the Commonwealth Games Vice Patron, Prince Edward, while ending the day on an overnight flight to Singapore – it’s such a wonderful and varied job!
"To do this role, you’ve got to like people - it’s all about them. I’ve dedicated my career to people, and people have dedicated their careers to me."
My last few months as President
The 2023 General Assembly in Singapore was one of my final contributions as President before stepping down. The General Assembly is when all nations come together to sign off all reports, vote for representatives, and work together to ensure all nations have a voice.
This includes key committees such as the Executive Board and the Sports Committee. In my role as President, I had to sign off every report from every Commonwealth nation. As you can imagine, this involves a lot of reading – but it’s all worth it.
During this five-day long event, there are plenty of opportunities for delegates to ask questions and it is my job to try and manage this, ensuring I stay as fair as possible. One thing I’ve focused on throughout my time in the role is to know each delegate’s name. This makes an enormous difference to how you build relationships with individuals and, of course, each Commonwealth nation.
On top of this, each evening there is always an event or activity related to the host nation. During my time as President, I have had so many opportunities to take part in cultural activities for almost all Commonwealth nations – how lucky am I?!
The moment I’ll always remember
I had the opportunity to take part in the Queen’s Baton Relay in advance of the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games. As part of this, there was a ceremonial passing of the baton outside the House of Dlamini, the royal house in Eswatini, South Africa. This ceremony had always taken place outside of the palace due to restrictions on men entering the building. However, this time, as the ceremony was taking place, the royal family noticed that I was a female. Suddenly, we were welcomed into the palace! This was a groundbreaking moment for Commonwealth Games, but more importantly, a groundbreaking moment for the Commonwealth family.
What advice would I give to ĢƵ students today?
"Stay true to yourself, believe in where you want to go, and most importantly, never say “If only I…” or “I wish I had…”"
