Careers for young women in sport forum

Over 100 school girls from around Victoria explored sport career opportunities at a special event held at Victoria University (VU) last week.

Susan Alberti Women in Sport Chair, Professor Clare Hanlon was joined by VU alum who have successful careers in sport and Susan Alberti AC herself, to outline the breadth of careers and inspire the next generation.

The overwhelming advice for the students in years 11 and 12 was to start volunteering in a local sporting club to help identify the area they’d like to pursue in sport and to simply get involved.

“VU offers many pathways and opportunities to study different sports courses, we provide industry networks, intensive industry placements and practice-based assessments to assist with student employability,” Professor Hanlon said.

Susan Alberti shared her personal story of not being able to pursue a career in sport, with her playing days finishing at 15.

“My dad used to say I’d eat a football I loved it so much. You’ve got so many opportunities that I and many women of my era were denied. I say to all the young women today who are considering a career in sport, believe in what you want to do and go for it,” Ms Alberti said.

Work hard, and you’ll achieve whatever you want in life because no one is ever going to do it for you.

VU alum Nisha Wijesekera who now works in Governance and Integrity and Sport and Recreation Victoria spoke about the welcoming and inclusive community women in sport are building.

“Diversity is really important. You might think this isn’t the right place for you being a girl, a woman of colour or a member of the queer community. But that intersectionality and diversity is growing (in sport) and in some cases significantly more than in other sectors,” Ms Wijesekera said.

It’s a really welcoming, inclusive environment and there’s a lot of support to drive women’s participation in the sector.

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