Life at Level

Level has launched a motivating series titled Life at Level in which they speak to their own lawyers about their journey and how they made the Level model work for them. Click here to read Rowena’s story from in-house general counsel to starting GENSport and partnering with Level.

The model they are referring to? That of the consultant lawyer which is making the news! These stories combine to show how the consultancy model enabled our founder to step-out on her own while still being part of a team.

Athletes: The Other Side Podcast

Interested in the lives of athletes and what happens when their sporting careers come to an end? Today, we often forget that sportsmen and women are more than just athletes, they have other lives – often many have careers away from their sport. Athletes: The Other Side podcast explores the lives and achievements of athletes away from their sport so that you can learn from their stories. Whether it be how they made the daunting leap into the big, wide world once their competitive career ended or how they used their personal brand to give back to their sport. Athletes: The Other Side will leave you inspired by what these extraordinary people have achieved in their ‘other’ lives.

Athletes: The Other Side podcast is hosted by Ben Nichols and all episodes are available here or on your chosen podcast platform. Episode 10: No Distinction with Rebecca Smith is co-hosted by our own, Rowena Samarasinhe. Rebecca Smith is a former New Zealand captain and Vfl Wolfsburg treble winner. She’s lead a successful and international footballing career. Since retiring, this woman “of many hats” has put her multiple degrees, 4 foreign languages, and incredible life experiences to good work, founding JAMAA Sports productions, becoming Global Executive Director of Women’s Game at COPA90, and hosting her own BBC podcast, amongst an array of other exciting ventures.

Listen to this episode and many more for daily inspiration!

Sports Think Tank UK

Rowena has joined the Advisory Board of Sports Think Tank the UK’s only independent Think Tank dedicated to sports Policy. The Advisory Group is there to give their thoughts and opinions on trends, topics and sensitive issues in and around sports policy in the UK. Sports Think Tank undertake a variety of projects to keep the sport and physical activity debate active and evidence-based in the UK. Follow them on Twitter @sport_thinktank and check out their projects here.

Women's Sport Collective

GENSport would like to thank the Women’s Sport Collective for inviting Rowena to talk about her experience in the boardroom and how she got there in their “Ready for the Board Game” webinar. The Women’s Sport Collective is an inclusive, collaborative network for women working in the sports sector. Their aim is to ensure that every woman in sport has the opportunity to fulfil her potential and this is an aim we at GENSport, also support!

We are pleased to share that Level Law has retained it’s tier 2 position amongst the country’s highest-ranking sports law specialists in the 2021 edition of The Legal 500.  We at GENSport are equally proud that The Legal 500 have recognised Rowena individually in the Next Generation Partner group.

The Legal 500 has for 33 years been analysing the capabilities of law firms across the world.  Their rankings are based on a series of criteria, but simply put, they highlight the teams who are providing the most cutting edge and innovative advice.  To find out more about their rankings, click here.

We don’t often use the word, thrilled, but in this case it is the best word to describe how we at GENSport feel about Rowena’s appointed to the National Sports Council of Sri Lanka. Today was their first meeting which Rowena joined via Zoom from London! Sports Minister Namal Rajapaksa appointed the new members whose main task will be to advice the Minister on all matters connected to developing sport in Sri Lanka. Former Sri Lanka Cricket legend Mahela Jayawardana will head the council. This is a well-deserved appointment that will enable Rowena to develop sports policy that will create opportunities for the sports men and women of Sri Lanka.

Another week, another podcast! This time it’s football and talking Euro 2020, the 2020-21 Football Event Calendar exploring aspects such as the commercialisation of football, the potential rise of multi-city events post COVID-19; UEFA vs FIFA and postponing the Woman’s Euros.

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Rowena Samarasinhe

GENSport is excited to partner with Fossil to promote women’s empowerment! As part of that initiative Rowena spoke on disrupting the gender divide at Innovators Serendipity earlier this week in Zurich.

Dow Jones Business - Disruption in Sport - 2019

In September 2019, Rowena was invited to join a panel at the Journal House Singapore in partnership with the Dow Jones Business conference in Singapore, to discuss “Disruption in Sport: Successful Adoptions and Continuing Challenges”.

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The Hearing Podcast

Want to know more about being a sports lawyer? Rowena tells all to Kevin Poulter of The Hearing Podcast supported by Thompson Reuters.  Rowena shares how she’s combined her love of law with her other passion, sport!  What it’s like working with some of the biggest athletes and organizations on the planet, and sharing tips for budding sports lawyers keen for a slice of the action. 

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