5. Identify those in a position to facilitate change

Those who can help make a change start at the top level of professional sports and trickle down. It is up to the governing bodies and organisations to make the change to ensure women are treated as equals and feel valued for women and girls to feel it at a lower level in the game.

One campaign trying to make this happen is Change Our Game by the Victorian Government which came after the Inquiry into Women and Girls in Sport and Active Recreation. There were nine recommendations from the 2015 inquiry which the Victorian Government wants to implement including: driving commitment through an Ambassadors of Change program and mandating gender balance and good governance principles.

While The Women’s Game cannot enact the change themselves, they can create relationships with these governing bodies and organisations to help extend our reach to encourage these changes to happen.

This would also happen with coaching pathway programs but instead of governing sports bodies being the main navigator, it would fall on clubs and state federations to start making the change by providing encouragement and more programs to women (those over 18) wanting to get into coaching.

The Women’s Game will also help by writing stories on female coaches involved in sport and tell their stories. Anne Jackson and Susie Warwick are set to provide a list of coaches and officials who have interesting stories and/or have achieved great heights in their role.

This is also similar for increasing participation rates especially in those groups or ages where a grassroots sport is less likely to be participated in by girls. Partnering or helping promote the following not-for-profits:

  • Dadee program: is a world-first lifestyle program targeting fathers as the agents of change to improve their daughters’ physical activity levels, sports skills and social-emotional wellbeing. Importantly, the program also engages girls to improve the fitness and physical activity levels, and parenting skills of their fathers.
  • Their Beautiful Game: Starting in 2009, 1000s of boots, 100s of balls, dozens of team kits and stacks of training equipment have been collected and donated to young girls and boys from favelas of Brazil, India, Nepal, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Kenya, Cambodia and Thailand, Indigenous communities in remote parts of Australia, as well as to homeless and refugee football teams in urban Sydney.
  • Girls Academy: is a not-for-profit founded in 2004 by Olympian and champion basketballer Ricky Grace. It develops and empowers Aboriginal girls through leadership training, mentoring, sport and extra-curricular programs.

Overall, Nextmedia and Inside Sport would need to help The Women’s Game create relationships with organisations. The Women’s Game has previously been focused on football for nine and a half years with much of the focus on FFA and W-League. Growing new relationships organically will take time, hence a push from the established relationships within NextMedia would be beneficial. These relationships could stretch from sporting bodies to other organisations as The Women’s Game need to try and build their brand. Particular focus where NextMedia already has an imprint would be beneficial (eg Tracks).

Another thought, presented by Susie Warwick is to run features on up-and-coming female athletes (Join “Jane’s” Journey) so “sponsors” – shouldn’t be called sponsorship - can help her subsidise the cost. The athlete’s coach should be able to give figures for this – eg. Airfares for athlete, and coach, to compete at international events, competition entry fees, equipment, apparel, physio, psych, etc. 

Tax deductible donations can be made if an athlete is registered through the Australian Sports Foundation.

Once athletes make an Australian elite team, a lot of things are taken care of, but there is that gap, endemic in every sport, where athletes are trying to make it to the top and the cost burden is on them or, usually, their family.

At this stage, a singular group has not been selected to help facilitate the rising star awards or an award to recognise the work of individuals. This would require more discussions with NextMedia to decide which direction we wanted to go in.