Reclink Australia – Women’s Basketball League

In 2019, Reclink Australia and partners including Himilo and the Islamic Society of Victoria created the Reclink Women’s Basketball League.

The League provides an opportunity for women from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds to play sports in a safe and inclusive environment.

In 2019, the league had 6 teams, with 65 participants. By 2021 it grew to 16 teams with 155 participants. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, participants remained engaged through online fitness challenges.

Below is a quote from Karima, a league participant.

“I’ve been a participant since the league commenced, I meet new girls, play against them weekly and have a chat after the game.  The league is special because it has the perfect balance of competitiveness and sisterhood."

"A couple months ago, Marta from Reclink offered me a position as a basketball coach, I took the opportunity without hesitation and I have not been happier.

"Ever since I was a little girl, I longed to have a career in the sports industry, and this is a perfect way to get my foot in the door so I can’t be more thankful.  I look forward to the future because I can see the league getting bigger and better!”

Wyndham City – Active After Hours

The Active After Hours initiative in Wyndham has increased participation by young people in community sports opportunities during winter.

Active After Hours is a Wyndham City initiative run throughout the non-daylight savings period to help Wyndham residents get more active, more often.

Sports field lights are turned on for set times every week, allowing community members to access the facilities and be active in any way they choose.

This provides a safe lit space for people to exercise outside after dark in an informal setting between 6 pm and 10 pm.

Social sports groups and groups of friends use the grounds informally during this time as well as people who just want to exercise or walk in a safe environment after dark.

Wyndham’s high immigrant and refugee population often find the cost of organised sport to be prohibitive and this option will provide greater access to active recreation and informal sport opportunities all year round.

Quarry Park Mountain Bike Trails and Skills Park

The Quarry Park Mountain Bike Trails and Skills Park delivered mountain bike facilities in Quarry Park Footscray.

The project, supported in part by the Community Sport Infrastructure Fund, includes downhill trails catering to varying levels of ability, a skills park and pump track incorporating technical features.

There has been strong collaboration between Maribyrnong City Council, local schools and the cycling club to enhance use and ensure community needs are met through the project.

The local cycling club has marketed the new trails, drawing new participants to the area.

Council has used strip counters to monitor usage and note that demand has exceeded initial expectations. The site is viewed as the first of its kind in the area, offering diverse active recreation opportunities to the community.

The project has also delivered landscape improvements to the open space, including weed removal and planting of native vegetation to enhance biodiversity within the area.

Outdoors Victoria – Nature Kindergarten Transition Facilitation Program

Outdoors Victoria and the Early Childhood Outdoor Learning Network (ECOLN) partnered to support the growth and development of outdoor learning.

Outdoor learning can boost physical activity, physical literacy, and academic performance in the early childhood sector.

Spending time outdoors can also build healthier and happier children with a greater understanding and respect for our environment.

Focussing on the early years will foster life-long positive habits for Victorian kids that pay health, social and economic dividends to the Victorian community.

The program commenced in 2020 in the outer north and west of Melbourne, and central Gippsland. Based on worldwide research, an Outdoors Victoria’s facilitator worked with interested councils, teachers, and kinder committees to identify barriers limiting the development of nature kindergartens.

Based on the unique challenges of the different organisations, an Outdoors Victoria facilitator then worked alongside partners to develop tailored solutions that facilitated the implementation of nature-based learning.

Some of the more common barriers were:

• low levels of staff training and confidence
• appropriate outdoor space for programs
• accessing different funding streams to support growth and sustainability of the program.

The Nature Kindergarten Transition Facilitation Program provides year-round follow-up support to help advance programs and birth brand new programs.

Already, several thousand Victorian Kinder kids have benefitted, enabling them to be more active and improve their learning outcomes across the curriculum.

Life Saving Victoria – Nipper Administration App

The Nipper Administration App was identified as a need by Life Saving Victoria (LSV) and is supported by funding through the Together More Active program.

The App aimed to improve efficiencies through the use of technology, in turn easing the administration burden for volunteers administrating and delivering Nipper programs across the state.

From a club level, the App improves lifesaving club administrators, juniors coordinators and Nipper group managers experience on the beach and in coordinating individual Nippers’ records and movements pre-, during-, and post-sessions.

It assisted clubs to ensure Nippers were current financial members and monitored real-time Nipper attendance.

They efficiently managed pre-requisite awards and Nipper qualification achievements, eliminating the need for additional forms and paper with an API straight into the membership database.

From a compliance perspective, the App assists with Child Safe Standards for check-in/check-out of Nippers and an easily accessible method for qualification checks of Nipper group managers.

From a state level, the App enabled LSV club support staff to monitor pre-requisite qualifications in real-time, and helped identify clubs that required additional support and training. It also eased the administration burden of state award processing requirements.

The Nipper App was successfully implemented for the 2019/20 season. In total, there was 75% uptake by lifesaving clubs. A total of 7,500 prerequisite awards and 7,600 qualifications were made through the App.

Victorian Institute of Sport – Regional High-performance Experience

The Victorian Institute of Sport (VIS) runs many initiatives that provide opportunities for the community to experience the world of elite-level sport. For example, more than 60 students and athletes from the Bendigo region took part in a VIS High-Performance Experience at La Trobe University.

This included training and testing sessions typically conducted in high-performance centres across Victoria.

Participants learnt from a VIS Physical Preparation Coach who led them through a strength and conditioning gym session.

The VIS sports scientists conducted talent testing on students, explaining what things they look for when identifying talent.

A nutritional workshop led by a VIS Sports Dietitian built students' knowledge about the types of foods they should be consuming to help fuel success. Lastly, participants were taken through a Pilates session with a VIS Soft Tissue Therapist.

Throughout the day students heard from a Bendigo local athlete, VIS Coach and Olympic medallist. The feedback from participants was overwhelmingly positive; it helped young people living in regional areas to believe they can achieve success wherever they live.

Kardinia Park Precinct – Festival of Physical Activity Health and Sport

The 2019 Festival of Sport saw over 14,000 people converge on Kardinia Park to celebrate physical activity, health, and sport in the region.

On 6 October 2019, the Geelong community descended on Kardinia Park for the second year in a row to enjoy a jam-packed day of free family sporting fun and entertainment.

The day kicked off with a new Geelong Kids Triathlon before the Kardinia Park Precinct filled with more than 60 ‘come and try’ activations and over 14,000 people celebrating physical activity, health, and sport in our region.

Festival-goers had the chance to try interactive squash, ten-pin bowling, virtual sailing, and stand-up paddle boarding on the Kardinia Pool,  to name a few of the activities.

On top of Australian sporting staples such as Aussie Rules, soccer, and tennis, participants had the unique opportunity to witness medieval jousting displays, sing along to Geelong kids entertainment icons the Mik Maks, and view the Stadium through Geelong Football Club Charles Brownlow Stand tours.