The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) has launched a new program to support women athletes pursue professional career options in the Australian sport industry.
Chief Executive of AIS, Peter Conde said the AIS Athlete Accelerate Program aimed to increase career pathway options for women athletes so they could progress their leadership skills in sport beyond their athletic careers.
Mr Conde said the Program would be available for up to 15 athletes who could develop and transfer their leadership capabilities, and experience in high performance sport, to become part of a more diverse sporting workforce.
“Australian sport needs to develop more women leaders and there is a fantastic talent pool of potential future leaders right in front of us – our elite women athletes,” Mr Conde said.
“The AIS Athlete Accelerate Program is about identifying the leadership skills that already exist in our elite women athletes, then providing them with the professional development to support their transition from the athletic performance stage to the sporting workforce,” he said.
“Many elite athletes naturally develop leadership skills throughout their competitive careers, so this Program is about supplementing that with professional development in areas such as career action plans and building professional networks.”
Mr Conde said AIS wanted women who participated in the Program to be part of the catalyst for change to increase the number of women in leadership positions in Australian sport.
“To ensure this Program makes a genuine difference, high performance sport leaders are required to support the application process so they can influence and advocate on behalf of the athlete,” he said.
“We need the buy-in of current leaders to ensure we continue breaking down barriers and make real change to our sporting workforce.”
Mr Conde said former and current categorised athletes who were employed by a State or national sporting organisation, or those ready to advance their sports administration or coaching career, could apply for the Program before 23 April.
Further information on the AIS Program, including how to apply, can be accessed at this PS News link.
