Tennis Australia launches new leadership program for young women

Hundreds of girls across the country are set to benefit from a new Tennis Australia program designed to build leadership, life skills, and confidence in young women through tennis.

Learn 2 Lead, developed in conjunction with Plan International Australia, the charity for girls’ equality, and supported by the Australian Sports Commission, is being rolled out nationally and aims to engage young women and gender diverse people aged 14-18 years within the sport while building their life and leadership skills.

Introducing the program, Tennis Australia Head of Women and Girls, Andrea Buckeridge stated “amplifying the voices of young women in local tennis communities is vital to keeping them involved in the sport and in ensuring our tennis clubs are as welcoming and inclusive as possible.

“We’ve seen many examples of the benefits of tennis participation, from creating more social connection to improving health and wellbeing. Providing further growth and leadership opportunities will help to keep young women involved in tennis and become leaders in their communities.”

Australian Sports Commission Chief Executive, Kieren Perkins noted “we are proud to partner with Tennis Australia to support this important program as part of the Australian Government’s commitment to create more opportunities for women and girls both on and off the court.

“We are focused on ensuring every Australian sees a place for themselves in sport, and programs such as Learn 2 Lead is central to creating strong connections to sport.”

Pilot programs have been delivered in Queensland and New South Wales with 24 participants, with the goal of attracting close to 100 girls to the program across Australia in 2023 and increasing in numbers over the next three years.

Across the eight-week program participants are supported by youth leadership experts in face to face, online and individual learning sessions, a digital learning platform and a supportive community of like-minded young people.

Ensuring they apply their learnings into real life experience, participants will also be guided to develop and implement an Action Learning Project to solve an issue in their local tennis communities.

Plan International Australia Chief Executive, Susanne Legena added “as one of the world’s oldest and largest child’s rights organisations, we have co-designed this program with Tennis Australia and young people to ensure it is relevant, grounded in real life experience and includes all the critical skills to help young women and gender diverse young people begin their leadership journey.

“Our pioneering youth leadership approaches equip and unlock individual power so young people can change the world around them. We hope involvement in this program empowers participants to harness their voice and make a difference within the tennis communities they play and grow in.”

Young people aiming to leverage the power of tennis to make a positive difference in their community can visit the Tennis Australia website to learn more about the intakes open across Australia.