Women sport news

England's Women take on the Czech Republic at The Keepmoat Stadium next Thursday, with Head Coach Hope Powell and former England and Doncaster Belles legend Karen Walker issuing a rallying call today to the region's football fans.

Blythe Hartley of North Vancouver collected her 20th career national title with a victory on women’s three-metre. photo diving.ca

Emily Brydon’s two-run combined time of two minutes 33.11 seconds was good enough for 17th in today’s World Cup super combined at Crans-Montana, SUI. photo Alpine Canada

Lindsey Vonn (Vail, CO) landed on the podium for the second time this weekend, finishing third in a World Cup super combined in Switzerland on Sunday. German Maria Riesch was second to clinch the super combined World Cup title and move ahead of Austrian Nicole Hosp to second in the overall, 157 points behind Vonn.

Tamsyn Lewis has produced the race of her life to win the 800m at the IAAF World Indoor Championships in Valencia, Spain.

USA Volleyball has announced the schedule for the 2008 edition of the popular USA Beach Junior Tour. Online registration begins March 1.

The women's final will also boast domestic interest when defending champion Nicol David - in her fifth successive final - takes on great rival Natalie Grinham, the second seed playing in her first event under the Dutch flag.

The 2008 edition of the Women’s Challenge Trophy will take place from 26 to 30 March 2008 in Larnaca, Cyprus. This event was established in 1999 and is aimed at the developing handball nations of Europe. This will be the 5th edition of the women’s competition.

For the first time since 1994, four Scottish players have been selected by the Ladies’ Golf Union to compete on home soil in the 35th Curtis Cup.

Three England internationals have been selected for the GB&I Curtis Cup. They are Hampshire’s Liz Bennett, Yorkshire’s Jodi Ewart and Lancashire’s Florentyna Parker.

RIO DE JANEIRO (FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament) – Tiago Splitter is a dominant force in the paint for Brazil’s men’s team, and now his 18-year-old sister could be ready to make her mark with the women’s side.

The conference room was filled with endless laughter. Opponents just yesterday, basketball players gathered to join the Korean national women’s team. The twelve athletes got together at the Korea Basketball Association building in Seoul yesterday, their first meeting as the team to represent their country in the upcoming Summer Olympics in Beijing. photo FIBA

The United States did not capture gold at the 2006 FIBA World Championship for Women in Brazil, but then again, the US did not have Lisa Leslie. photo FIBA

After a successful year in 2007 that saw the 2007-08 USA Basketball Women's National Team earn an Olympic berth and compile an overall slate of 19-0, the U.S. squad is scheduled to resume its training for Beijing in Salamanca and Valencia, Spain, March 14-21. photo FIBA

VALENCIA (EuroLeague Women) – Gambrinus Brno claimed the last remaining place on offer at the EuroLeague Women Final Four on Wednesday by winning a deciding third game in their quarter-final tie with Ros Casares 75-69. photo FIBA

The Roxy Invitational Mozambique presented by Saltwater Girl Magazine is an invite-only surfing event that takes place at Ponto Do Oro in Mozambique. It has an 8-day waiting period to make sure that the girls get to surf the best waves, and the first prize is R10,000.

The FINA Diving World Series returns to Sheffield this spring for the second year and with support from UK Sport and partners from Sheffield and the Yorkshire region the event looks to be even bigger than the first.

Émilie Heymans of St-Lambert, Que., took the gold on women’s 10-metre on Saturday at the Winter Nationals diving competition. photo diving.ca

Norwegian Anette Sagen continued her dominance of the women's Continental Cup Saturday with a strong win in Zao, Japan. Jessica Jerome (Park City, UT) was the top American in 11th.

After the decision by Council to withdraw the event from India, the bid was opened and four member associations have shown interest to host the event. These four were Namibia, Poland, Mexico and Turkey.

A great 33 countries will compete in the European and Mediterranean Indoor Archery Championship that is held in Turin this week. Most of them truly hope for medal glory in a venue of the Olympic Games.

Birmingham will be the launch-pad for Britain’s Paralympic Games campaign this year after an announcement today – exactly six months before the Games - that the City’s National Indoor Arena (NIA) will play host to the complete ParalympicsGB team just weeks before it departs for Beijing.

Australian surf star Laura Enever (Narrabeen) has trumped a class field of international challengers to claim victory at the Billabong Pro Junior Series in Taranaki, New Zealand. photo ASP

Émilie Heymans of St-Lambert, Que., and Marie-Ève Marleau of Laval, Que., won the gold medal in the women’s 10-metre synchro on Friday at the Winter Nationals diving competition. photo diving.ca

Team Northumbria showed just why they are riding high at the top of the Co-operative Netball Superleague table with a convincing 60-25 win over a young Northern Thunder side at Greenbank Sports Academy last night.

Celebrated on March 8, International Women's Day IWD is a global movement connecting all women around the world and inspiring them to achieve their full potential.