The Australian Institute of Sport’s inaugural Thrive with Pride Program is ready to roll and will involve 14 athlete ambassadors from 10 different sports.
Acting Chief Executive of the AIS, Matti Clements said the Program aimed to provide safe and inclusive sporting environments for all athletes to thrive.
Ms Clements said in support of this objective, the AIS had engaged the expertise of LGBTIQ+ and inclusion bodies, Pride in Sport and Proud 2 Play.
She said the Thrive with Pride Ambassadors, which comprised LGBTIQ+ athletes and allies, were motivated to engage, educate and empower athletes at all levels to provide inclusive sporting environments.
“I want to thank these athlete ambassadors for putting their hands up to be the leaders for this Program, because this has the potential to change lives and sporting environments for the better,” Ms Clements said.
“They will be delivering presentations in sporting environments, endeavouring to build trust, foster change, promote inclusion and ensure every athlete across every sport has the opportunity to thrive as themselves.”
Thrive with Pride Ambassador and Olympic champion diver, Matthew Mitcham (pictured) said having the confidence to be his “authentic self” was critical to his life, then sporting success.
“Growing up gay and not feeling confident enough to be my authentic self within my training environment as a teenager prevented me from really bringing my full self to training,” Mr Mitcham said.
“Finding myself in a squad where I felt comfortable enough to be myself had the most profound effect on my self-esteem and allowed me to be fully present like never before,” he said.
Mr Mitcham said this was a catalyst that took him out of sporting retirement to become an Olympic Champion at the Beijing Games “which is why I am so passionate about creating open, inclusive environments to nurture optimum performance”.
