Smashing Boundaries Project
The Smashing Boundaries project is a Sporting Heritage initiative dedicated to shining a spotlight on the incredible achievements of women in sports from Carmarthenshire, past and present. Our mission is to honour and celebrate these women, whose stories have often been overlooked, and to inspire a new generation of young girls and women to pursue their passions in sport.
Smashing Boundaries seeks to uncover hidden histories, highlight the contributions of women in sports, and reshape Carmarthenshire’s rich sporting heritage with a more balanced and inclusive narrative.
What we've been doing
Community engagement
We’ve been hosting a series of dynamic engagement events throughout the community—connecting sports clubs, colleges, and local groups to highlight opportunities in women’s sports and showcase inspiring stories from local sportswomen.
Empowering young people
With the support of colleges and film studios, we’ve empowered a group of young people to document these amazing stories on film. They’ve interviewed sportswomen, past and present, gaining skills in interviewing, filming, and storytelling along the way.
Exhibition development
The project culminated in an exciting temporary exhibition at Parc Howard Museum, running from International Women's Day 2025 until International Women's Day 2026.
This unique display, shaped by the stories and films we uncovered, featured biographies of noteworthy sportswomen, memorabilia, photos, personal artefacts, and oral history recordings. Together, they brought to life the remarkable achievements of Carmarthenshire’s female athletes.
Why it matters
For too long, the world of sports was dominated by male achievements. But women from our community have made extraordinary contributions to sports—breaking barriers and challenging stereotypes in fields like motor racing, snooker, cricket, and darts. Smashing Boundaries aims to change that narrative, providing recognition where it’s long overdue and creating an inspiring legacy for future generations.
The video below was created by Ysgol Y Strade, based in Llanelli, who were inspired by the exhibition to show what the Smashing Boundaries project means to them.
Our Young Curators
Kirsti, one of our young curators who helped in the development of the exhibition, shared her experiences from the project in an article for the local sixth form college. Here are her words reproduced below:
"Over the course of January and February a small group of Coleg Sir Gâr students have been working collaboratively with the team at Parc Howard Museum in Llanelli, on the Smashing Boundaries Project. The intention of this project was to produce an exhibition to highlight the sporting achievements being made by Carmarthenshire’s female athletes, both historically and currently. The project was born five years ago, when a member of the Parc Howard Museum team mentioned an unsung sporting achievement she was aware of, this being the triumphs of Lynne Thomas. Thomas was the first person (not only the first woman) to score a century in the Cricket World Cup in 1973. She is one of the many inspiring women this project exhibits. The goal of this exhibition was to readdress the underrepresentation of women in sport throughout both the past and through modern history.
The Graig students involved in this opportunity included Kimberley (Kim), Amber and Kirsti, as well as an Aberystwyth campus student. They have worked closely with members of the CofGâr museum team- including Jenna Morris who supported them diligently throughout the project. During their time at Parc Howard these young women were given the opportunity to interview each other and to familiarise themselves with industry standard equipment and techniques. When speaking about why she chose to engage in the Smashing Boundaries Project, Kim stated, 'it would be an opportunity not only to develop my own filming techniques but also to learn about the history of female sports in Carmarthenshire'. Kirsti also noted her interests, stating, 'feminism and the combat of modern day misogyny has always been a really important factor to me', linking to the essential purpose of the project being centred on gender equality within sports. Amber also noted that she learned 'how much actually goes into taking part in oral history and a lot more about Carmarthenshire sports women.' All three young people expressed a continued enthusiasm throughout their interviews.
The exhibition officially debuted on 8 March, coinciding intentionally with International Women's Day. An opening ceremony was initiated with a speech by the manager of the CofGâr museums in the portrait gallery at Parc Howard, followed by a speech by Kirsti. The attendees of the ceremony were then given free range to explore the exhibition, witnessing important sporting memorabilia and viewing the filmed interviews completed by Kim and Kirsti throughout the project. These included the interviews of Tonia Antoniazzi (Gower MP and retired Women’s Rugby World Cup player) and Lisa Pudner (retired Paralympic
Powerlifter). This was followed by a discussion panel, consisting of Jenna, Kirsti, Kim, Lisa Pudner and Catrin Stevens of Women’s Archive Wales. Other guests of this event included Lynne Thomas and the Llanelli Town Mayor.
Overall, this opportunity was a display of female empowerment. The representation of these prosperous sports women was truly a vessel of inspiration for future generations of young sports women. The exhibition is running from 8 March 2025 for one year, however the project and the impact it hopes to bring does not end there. This exhibition is portable, so intends to be moved around Carmarthenshire, reaching a greater audience and keeping the vivid stories of these sports women alive."
Cynnydd y prosiect | Project progress
