Championing Her Future Summit Explores Exciting New Career Paths for Girls in the Sports Industry
- Victoria Mackinlay
- May 22
- 5 min read
On Wednesday 14th May, over 150 sporting career ‘influencers’, including high school teachers, career guidance counsellors, universities and sports industry professionals, attended the Office of Sport’s ‘Championing Her Future: Careers for girls in sport summit’ to be informed and inspired by the latest trends and opportunities for young females in sporting careers.
A key message that ran through the day was: ‘you don’t need to be sporty to have a sports career.’ In terms of how to prepare young women for future careers, we heard how human qualities will become more important as more careers are machine-assisted, and how playing sport enhances career-essential character qualities such a resilience, grit and leadership. We also heard of the importance of career influencers, with many speakers sharing their ‘tap on the shoulder’ moment, where they received a golden piece of advice or opportunity that led them to their successful career.
Many of the presenters generously shared their own career ups and downs and advice. Lili Gorman-Brown, who was MC for day, told how she was forced to pivot careers from professional netballer to training partner and teacher, highlighting the importance of flexibility. “When I felt like things were falling apart, maybe they were just falling into place,” she said, encouraging attendees to open their eyes to the myriad of career possibilities in sport.
Kerry Turner, former Stinger and Women in Sport lead at the Office of Sport, also spoke about the “rainbow” of opportunities for girls in sporting careers, calling out last year’s Paris Olympics and the Matildas campaign as moments that have supercharged the possibilities. She emphasised the demand for smart, skilled and ambitious young women has never been greater and now is the time to seize the day. She also shared her ‘tap on the shoulder’ moment from her school librarian who encouraged her to study a Bachelor of Applied Science in Human Movement, which set up her career trajectory.
Ashley Fell, Social Researcher and Demographer at McCrindle, took us through the data and megatrends which are transforming the workplace for Gen Z and Gen Alpha. Key to this was the impact of technology, with the move from manual to machine learning, automation and AI. In the very near future, humans will work closer with machines, creating new roles - in fact, 65% of children entering primary school today will end up in jobs that don’t yet exist.
The future workforce will also be punctuated by continuous study, upskilling and retraining. Lifelong careers will be a thing of the past: Gen Z will have, on average, 18 jobs and 6 careers in their lifetime.
Ashley also shared how Gen Z are attracted to jobs that have purpose and meaning. They want their work to align with their core values. This research was backed up when we heard from three of the Office of Sports’ focus group representatives, who are in year 12 and at university. They shared that the most important driving factor when looking for a job was to do something they were “passionate” about.
In a compelling fireside chat with Kerry Turner, Olympian and founder of the Female Athlete Project, Chloe Dalton OAM, shared the power of sport in Australian culture. “Sport is a beautiful vehicle to shift conversations around the roles women can hold in society,” she said.
Kerry and Chloe shared new and growing career paths for women in the sporting industry, especially in research and technology roles. They referenced the growth in research around women’s bodies, citing how FIFA is now funding a study into the role of the menstrual cycle on ACL injuries. Chloe referred to the work of Dr Bridget Munro, Women’s Research Director at Nike, who has carried out extensive research using body scans and technology (including a ‘bra bot’) resulting in over 70 different sizes of bras. She also shared anecdotes from her interview with Jordie Katcher, Vice President of Women's Global Sport Apparel at Nike, who designed the Matildas’ jersey, making sure the shirt was not distracting for the athletes (i.e. the neckline and seams didn’t rub) but also looked amazing (which is especially important for women who are used to wearing oversized hand me downs from men’s teams). Kerry and Chloe also discussed the importance of female architects and designers creating bespoke women’s sporting facilities.
We then heard from women who have successful careers in sport. Assmaah Helal, COO of Creating Chances shared how her love of football and helping others led to a career creating change for refugees and young people. “Sport gave me the tools to develop confidence, resilience and sense of belonging in Australian society,” she said. She also spoke about the Creating Chances Future Pathways programs that prepare students for life beyond school with tailored roadmaps, work-readiness skills and school-based trainee programs.
Dr Libby Pickering Rodriguez, Lecturer at the School of Sport, Exercise and Rehabilitation at UTS, shared the importance of research on the female body, which is anatomically very different to the male body, to achieve peak performance for female athletes. Libby also highlighted the unique opportunity that exists at the UTS facility, located in a high performance environment at Moore Park, where students receive a front row view of sport science and the intersection with professional sport.
Next, we heard from, Holly Bailey, founder of ‘Play Like a Girl’ who spoke about her “Empowered to Lead” personal development program. Designed to nurture leadership skills in girls, the program is shaping the next generation of leaders on and off the field. Alex Butt and Hannah Lanz of Ascham School shared the powerful impact of their ‘Sisters in Sport Leadership Network’. This innovative initiative is uniting girls across NSW and empowering the next generation of leaders in women’s sport. The Sisters in Sport Network has grown into a multi-school movement encompassing leadership days and events, with newsletters, podcasts and vodcasts planned to champion girls to build a more inclusive future in sport.
Finally, Samara Kitchener, Managing Director of House of Kitch, inspired the audience with innovative and engaging examples of how you can use behavioural science to encourage and inspire girls into sporting careers. There was a live brainstorming session with the audience to determine which tactics would best resonate with teenage girls.
Erica Fryar and Cristy Cotter from the Office of Sport also shared the importance of hearing directly from young women. The Office of Sport have carried out focus groups with girls and young women to understand their needs, wants and motivations as well as the barriers they experience when looking at sports careers. Erica also spoke about a brand new ‘Teenage Advisory Committee’ where they will continue to gather insights from young females to inform their strategy.
For more information on the Championing Her Future Summit and Play Her Way strategy visit the Championing Her Future webpage.
Comments