Celia Brackenridge

Celia Brackenridge was a British sportswoman, campaigner and academic, born on 22 August 1950 and died on 23 May 2018. She began playing lacrosse at school and played for England for 14 years, captaining the side from 1979 to 1982, including at the first Women's Lacrosse World Cup. By the mid-1980s she was recognised as the most capped Great Britain lacrosse player. She later coached England and served as assistant coach of the Harvard University lacrosse team, helping bring American equipment and playing styles such as plastic sticks to Britain. Brackenridge founded the Women's Sports Foundation UK, now known as Women in Sport, and researched the physical and sexual abuse of young sportspeople by coaches, advising bodies including UNICEF, the NSPCC, the International Olympic Committee and FIFA. She was a professor at Brunel University and was appointed an OBE in 2012.