$200 million in dedicated funding will ensure local women in sports get equal opportunities, and the same game experience while allowing them access to the same facilities as their male counterparts.
A long-time advocate for bolstering local women’s sports, Chesters shares a shocking statistic that “for every two males who play sports, only one female does and many girls drop out and never come back later in life.”
The Play Our Way program addresses inequality in local women’s sports. Local Federal MP, Lisa Chesters, met with the local women’s AFL team the Bendigo Thunder to announce the grants.
Listen to the Sideline View Segment with MP, Chesters, and Potential 2024 Thunder Captian, Shae Murphy.
“This grant program will not only help women and girls maintain better physical and mental health but will contribute to a sporting culture that treats women with equality, fairness, and respect,” Chesters says.
“Too often in our community women and girls are changing in men’s bathrooms, wearing hand-me-down boys’ uniforms, playing with men’s equipment on fields that they wouldn’t let the boys’ teams train on.
“The Federal Government is proud to invest in community sporting facilities and participation programs to enable women and girls to find their feet in sport.”
Chesters says this funding is “a long time coming after years of being a strong voice and advocate for women’s sport locally for many years.”
“This funding program is an opportunity many people, including myself, have been calling for.”
The Play Our Way Grants will be available in two streams:
- Facilities: For projects that establish and improve sporting facilities that are designed
for women and girls and further, encourage them to take part in sports and physical
activity by better meeting their needs; and - Participation and equipment: For programs that encourage women and girls to
participate and remain involved in sports and physical activity for life, by tackling
barriers such as disadvantage or lack o
