Bright and early on the Friday morning of June 21st ten women from across the teams represented La Trobe University Hockey Club at the Hockey Victoria Women’s and Girls annual breakfast at the Kooyong Tennis Club.
The women’s group committee discussed the initiatives clubs are focusing on to make them more female friendly such as improving the facilities and changing options at the canteen (it’s amazing how seemingly small things can have such a huge impact!). More themes were discussed and questions posed – how can we keep young people, not just girls, in sport as they move through their teens and into into the adult leagues? And have we thought about mentoring to help young people juggle sport along with work and life?
It was great have such a strong presence in the room, especially when the La Trobe hockey logo was displayed on the screen thanks to Rachael Bannan keeping our club involved as a Women’s group pilot club. The morning also presented as a good opportunity for some informal discussion about the great changes which are happening at La Trobe and more ideas for the future.
The keynote speaker, Kelly Cartwright was incredibly inspiring as she discussed her life from discovering she had cancer at 15, deciding to amputate her leg and then her pathway to becoming an elite athlete competing at the Paralympics and World Championships around the world.
This weekend we are celebrating Women’s round across the club with a small treat for all La Trobe players. We’ll have a barbecue at home on Sunday with the Women’s and Men’s 1s & 2s playing our friendly rival, Yarra Valley Hockey Club.
We’ll also have some of our own inspiring women members, current and past, coming down so we can say thanks for all the great work they have done over the years and the reputations they have left to live up to.
Think Pink and come on down to celebrate Women’s Round 2013 at the Cauldron, Sunday 23rd June.