GippSport proudly partnered with Yallourn Yallourn North Football Netball Club for its recent Celebrating Women and Girls event.
The club received funding through the Office for Women in Sport and Active Recreation via a Change Our Game Activation Grant to run the event for the women and girls who play, volunteer and coach at the club.
Based in Latrobe City, Yallourn Yallourn North plays in the North Gippsland Football Netball League and the Jets have established a reputation as an inclusive and welcoming club. Club leaders have been an important part of GippSport’s Changing Gippsland’s Game women’s leadership program.
The event was facilitated by GippSport and included three guest speakers. GippSport’s Senior Sports Consultant Michelle Harris opened the evening with a presentation about the Change Our Game initiative, career pathways and why it’s important for women and girls to become club leaders and advocates for all women. Michelle also showed the Victorian Government’s new Fair Access Policy video and led a discussion around important areas to work on at YYNFNC.
Next up was Netball Victoria’s Eastern Region Manager Judi Buhagiar, a member of the Changing Gippsland’s Game professional network and a lifelong advocate of sport opportunities for women in Gippsland. Judi spoke about her career in netball and how the sport has played such an important part of her life. Among the key themes was never knowing who is watching and stepping into uncomfortable spaces when opportunities arise.
Finally, club champion Trisha Chapman talked about her journey from local netball to working internationally. Trish highlighted the importance of creating a growth culture, as opposed to a goal-oriented culture, noting that if winning was the only measure of success, 10 of the 11 teams in YYNFNC’s league would see themselves as failures.
The event was emceed by another leader and advocate for women’s sport in Gippsland, GippSport’s Karen Ferguson, and was extremely well-received by the 50 YYNFNC women in attendance. The future of Gippsland sport looks bright with these amazing women leading the way and GippSport was proud to partner on such a positive project.
For more information about the Change Our Game program, visit changeourgame.vic.gov.au or, if you are interested in delivering gender equality initiatives at your club or association, contact Michelle on 0458 145 596 or at michelle@gippsport.com.au
