New grants will help women take a hands-on approach to coaching in Canberra. Photo: Tennis ACT.
The ACT Government has announced a new $50,000 grant program to support women in coaching and officiating positions at sports and recreation clubs across the territory.
The initiative aims to improve access to further education by providing funding for accredited women’s training and leadership opportunities.
It’s a step the government hopes will encourage more women to get involved in coaching and official positions, currently male-dominated fields in many clubs.
Tennis Australia chair umpire Shannon Ng said more female umpires and coaches would have helped her feel more comfortable when she started.
“We do face a couple more struggles compared to my male colleagues, one of them just being numbers,” she said.
“I’ll walk into an umpire’s room and be the only female in the room, and that’s who I’m working with for the whole week.
“Communication’s very different, especially officiating matches. I find I can deal with the cattiness, but I really struggle with aggression, and for me that’s one of the barriers to progressing my officiating career. Just having someone who understands that would be really helpful on tour.”
The new program invites clubs to apply for grants of $500 to $10,000. Guidelines encourage applicants to submit jointly funded projects. The program is open to ACT sports and active recreation clubs and state sports organisations.
Projects eligible to apply include training and education programs not reasonably delivered through existing state sport organisations, digital applications to aid in education, projects to overcome barriers to training, and targeted programs for high-performance staff.
Tennis ACT, which praised the government’s new grant program, has been in the process of increasing the number of its female coach and official positions.
But although the organisation said it had made significant progress, ratios were still well below parity with 20 per cent of official positions and 32 per cent of coaching roles currently filled by women.
Tennis ACT CEO Mark La Brooy described the new program as delivering a meaningful and lasting impact.
“Increasing the number of women coaches and officials not only improves gender equity across sporting environments, but also provides women and girls with access to strong role models,” he said.
“These visible leaders help drive organic growth in female participation and contribute to long-term improvements in community health and wellbeing.”
The ACT continues to move forward with several programs to encourage women in sport in the territory, including ongoing renovations to improve female change rooms at several sports grounds.
Sport and Recreation Minister Yvette Berry described the grant program as a practical step forward for the territory.
“Across the country, we see shockingly low numbers of female coaches and referees,” Ms Berry said.
“When I was talking to female coaches and referees leading up to the election last year, I saw one of the major barriers was funding to support them.
“We’re proud to invest in the development of female leaders who inspire participation and excellence across all levels of sport.”
Applicants can apply through the ACT’s SmartyGrants portal. Applications close 29 August.
Find more details on the ACT Government’s website. Funding guidelines for eligible groups can be found here.
