More Australian women take up the challenge of sports leadership

More than 2,500 women have a greater chance to become leaders across Australian sport thanks to a national grants scheme provided by the Australian Government.

Minister for the Arts and Sport, Senator George Brandis and the Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Women’s Issues, Julie Bishop today announced 176 successful recipients in the 2007/08 Sports Leadership Grants for Women.

The Australian Government has provided $400,000 in funding for these grants which allow more than 2,500 women to pursue leadership opportunities across many levels of Australian sport.

Senator Brandis said the Australian Government remains committed to improving the involvement and professional development opportunities of women, including leadership and decision-making roles, across all levels of Australian sport.

“This grants scheme will enable a greater number of Australian women to undertake accredited sports leadership training in coaching and officiating, sport administration, sport governance and management where they traditionally tend to be under-represented,” Senator Brandis said.

“Australian sport stands to benefit from a greater number of women in leadership and decision-making roles who bring a fresh and different perspective to the management and development of the industry.”

Minister Bishop said that under this program Australian Government grants worth more than $2 million have assisted 15,500 women from across Australia to develop sport leadership skills and training.

“The 176 grant recipients include excellent examples of women taking a leadership role in developing the depth and diversity of Australian sport.

“Many of them are significant role models who can encourage and inspire other women into leadership positions in sport and in the broader community,” Minister Bishop said.

Grant recipients are represented in five key areas: high performance coaching and officiating; Indigenous women; women in disability sport; women from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds; and women in general sport leadership.

For example, Hockey Australia will use the grant to provide training and development for up to six women to progress through an elite coaching pathway and to gain valuable experience at the international level. The ultimate goal is to produce Australia’s first female national coach.

Former Paralympic gold medallist Amy Winters of Sydney will use the grant to pursue education and training through the completion of a Graduate Certificate in Sports Management.

Gulf Sport and Recreation Association (GSRA) has identified a need to train and develop up to 30 women as level-one coaches in swimming, softball and hockey. This initiative will enable GSRA to deliver sporting opportunities across the region, including remote Indigenous communities.

For more details about the grants go Sport Leadership Grants and Scholarships for Women