Advocate 54 June 2014
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Advocate 54 June 2014 Editorial Board member Julie Anderson and I met with the Minster for Sport, The Hon. Peter Dutton, MP in Melbourne before the Budget. AWRA sought the meeting as part of our strategy to influence government and so that we could discuss some of today’s issues affecting women in sport. Julie and I did ask about the possibility of more linkages between his two portfolios of sport and health. We were told that the Government’s priority was to meet its election promises and that there will be little in the way of new sports policies or initiatives, not until the ASADA drugs in sport investigation has been wrapped up, and this budget cycle has finished. The ASC participation policy, which has been under development for a year or so, is still some way off and the Minister mentioned that he would like to see corporate partnerships involved here. However, when the national budget came down there was $100 million for schools to run activities across 35 major sports, such as football, netball, tennis and gymnastics, for three terms each year. The new Sporting Schools initiative (starting in 2015) will replace the Active After-school Communities program which focused on children not engaged in sport. The new schools’ program aims to link schools with sporting clubs to drive ongoing participation. Teachers will be able to access a range of online training guides and coaching courses. It will target around 850,000 children across more than 5,000 primary schools and 80 secondary schools across Australia. On average, it is expected that each grant would be worth around $1700. But the ASC will be hit hard with 75 job sackings and $50 million of budget cuts over the next two to three years. It is expected that the ASC Corporate services will move to the Department of Health and possibly the Grants section as well. Supporting athletes and sports towards the Rio 2016 Games remains the top priority while cuts to “amateur” sports and grass roots participation funding are the trade-off. Programs that encourage the general community to take part in sport and exercise will lose $6.3million in 2014-15 (a cut of 8.6 per cent in real terms), while support for sports excellence will be trimmed by just $3.3million (a 4.7 per cent cut in real terms). At this stage, there have been no announcements about new initiatives for women and girls in sport, nor news about the Women in Sport Leadership grants program. The National Foundation for Australian Women (NFAW), a leading non-partisan women’s advocacy group has found that the biggest losers from the 2014 Federal Budget are women from virtually all walks of life and mostly low to middle income earners. It is noteworthy that as the sport budget is reduced, the Active Healthy Kids Report Card revealed that 81% of Australian children aged 5-17 do not get the recommended 60 minutes of vigorous physical activity a day and 71% exceed the daily recommended guidelines of no more than two hours screen time a day. One in four children is overweight and 63% of adults are overweight. We must do more to educate and advocate for increased levels of physical activity - the return of daily physical education in schools for example - right across the community as we head towards becoming a nation of fat couch potatoes rather than a sporting nation. The news about successful athletes and women in sport is triumphed in the Advocate and as usual we will keep you up-to- date with new developments and research as listed in this edition. Happy reading. Janice Crosswhite OAM Editor 1 Executive Officer’s Report Congratulations to the SA Office for Sport and Recreation for a wonderful “Governance, Diversity and Opportunity: Are you on Board” Conference. The speaker list was outstanding and all participants went away with a much better understanding of how diverse boards can lead to better outcomes. We look forward to seeing the impact of this conference on SA sport. Work on our website continues with new content being added almost weekly. We would welcome some feedback on whether we are covering the right kinds of issues. Have a quick look at www.australianwomensport.com.au. Our second Mentoring Workshop was held in Sydney recently with support from NSW Sport and Recreation and was well appreciated by our Sydney based mentees. We are developing a wonderful network of mentors around Australia who are committed to sharing their experience with our mentees. Planning has already started for next year’s program. Much energy is going into sourcing funding for the Executive Officer’s position as our grant from the Office for Sport runs out this December. Several proposals and an expression of interest have been developed for various funders. If you are looking for some professional development in a warmer location over the winter, please consider joining me at the Sport Education Conference, at the University of the Sunshine Coast on 3-4 July (http://www.sunshinecoastsports.com.au/announcements/sport-education-conference). There is something for everyone with three strands: Governance and Leadership, Sports Science and Sports Development. I will be speaking on Gender Equity and Boards in one session. It is with sadness that we acknowledge the closing down of Womensport Queensland after over twenty years of operation. A lack of secure ongoing funding was the main reason for the organisation’s demise. We salute the founders, successive Boards, staff and volunteers for their commitment to women’s sport in Queensland. Leanne Evans. Contact Leanne on [email protected] 0417 282 293 Congratulations to: A strong second-half fight back was not enough for Australia, eventually going down 1-0 to world champions Japan in the Women's Asian Cup final in Vietnam. The defending champion Matildas created most of the chances in the second 45 minutes, but could not find the touch that brought them nine goals in their four previous games. The Australian women's water polo team, the Stingers, have won the FINA World League Intercontinental Cup in the USA, defeating arch-rivals and hosts the USA in the final, coming through a tough match to triumph 7-5. Australian surfer Sally Fitzgibbons who has captured her first world championship tour event of the year winning the Rio Pro in Brazil. Australian diver Melissa Wu who has capped off a successful comeback from injury at the Puerto Rico Grand Prix with a gold medal in the 10m platform. The 22-year-old beat out Chinese stars Ji Siyu and Qian Ren while Australian Rachel Bugg finished fourth. The victory added to Wu's bronze in the synchronised platform with Bugg a day earlier. Wu, a two- time Olympic silver medallist, is heading to her third Commonwealth Games this year and leads a strong female contingent in Australia's 12-person diving team for Glasgow. The Australian Women's Rugby Sevens team has finished the 2013/14 IRB Sevens Women’s World Series runners-up after slipping to defeat against eventual champions New Zealand in the Cup Final of the Amsterdam Sevens (12-29). Despite losing out on the team prize, it was a double-awards delight for centre Emilee Cherry, who picked up the 2013/14 IRB Women's Sevens World Series Player of the Year and top try scorer of the season (33 tries). Paddler Jessica Fox has maintained her position at the top of the canoe slalom summit after winning two gold medals at the 2014 ICF Junior/U23 World Championships. The Olympic silver medallist turned in another top display to win gold in the women's under-23 K1 and C1 events, before adding bronze in the women's under-23 K1 team event on the final day of racing. Fox's triumph in the K1 and C1 events marked the first time a paddler had won both titles at an under-23 world championship. Fox was joined on the medal dais by fellow NSWIS athlete Alison Borrows in the women's K1 team event, with Borrows also finishing fourth in the women's under-23 K1 and 10th in the women's under-23 C1. Reigning world champion Caroline Buchanan has taken out the elite women’s Oceania BMX Championships. Undefeated throughout the event, she led from start to finish in the final which also handed her the national series title with a fourth win from five rounds. 2 Kim Mickle finished second in the women's javelin in the opening Diamond League meet in Doha. Mickle produced a throw of 65.36m on her final attempt, after dropping down to third with one throw remaining. Canberra cyclist Chloe Hosking has won her first UCI event of the year, winning the 120-kilometre.EPZ Omloop van Borsele race in Holland. Competing in Racice, Czech Republic, canoe sprint paddler Naomi Flood won a silver medal in the women's K1 1000m despite tough conditions. The Southern Stars powered to a six-wicket win over England to win their third consecutive World Twenty20. Sarah Coyte grabbed 3-16 in her four overs and Ellyse Perry and Rene Farrell claimed two wickets each to restrict England to a modest 8-105 after Australia won the toss and elected to field. Captain Meg Lanning smashed a 30-ball 44 studded with two sixes and four boundaries as the champions raced home with 29 deliveries to spare in a one-sided final. Perry completed a remarkable all-round display with an unbeaten 31, having added 60 for the fourth wicket with Lanning.