New $15 million program to draw women and girls to sport
The $15 million Active Women and Girls Program has been launched, designed to boost participation opportunities for women and girls including playing, coaching, volunteering, umpiring and team management.
The program will assist clubs, local governments, and state-level sport and active recreation organisations to attract more women and girls to become involved through initiatives such as development programs for female coaches, targeted activities to grow female participation or mentoring by and for female athletes among others.
Applications for the Active Women and Girls Program will open on 20 November 2023 and close on 6 March 2024.
The program was launched during the Oceania Rugby Sevens tournament which is a qualifying event for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games and is supported by the Queensland Government as part of its program to secure major events on the pathway to the 2032 Brisbane Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Queensland is also building a powerful reputation in women’s rugby. The Queensland Academy of Sport (QAS) women’s Rugby Sevens program, in collaboration with Queensland Rugby Union (QRU), continues to deliver a strong representation to the highly successful national team.
Half of the gold medal winning squad from Rio 2016 were Queenslanders, many of whom came through the QAS and QRU pathways.
The QAS invests almost $540,000 a year to support the Rugby Sevens program, which includes the employment of expert performance support staff as well as high performance coaching.