Another 54 industry leaders have signed on to help Aussies to Play Well as part of Australia’s first co-designed Sport Participation Strategy.
Five Project Squads have been announced that will help deliver the 34 priority activities identified in the strategy.
They include representatives from the sport, education and government sectors as well as ASC staff with members meeting in Canberra for the first time this week.
The Project Squads and the areas they will look after are below:
Play Book – activities relating to the development of strategies, frameworks and approaches that can create a blueprint for the industry to improve the participant experience and activities that help align the participation system.
Research Education and Data (RED) - activities focused on data collection, research and measuring the impact of sport.
Sport for Life – activities that foster a lifelong relationship with sport and prioritise fundamental movement skills in children.
Positive Environments – activities that create quality experiences for everyone involved in sport.
Places to Play – activities that optimise existing facilities and identify new spaces to play.
Troy Kirkham is Executive Manager Game Development and Community Football at the WA Football Commission and joins the Playbook Project Squad.
“Being on the Playbook Project Squad is an exciting opportunity for me and I can see the impact the Play Well Strategy will have on shifting the dial on sport participation and involvement nationally,” he said.
“Bringing people from all walks of life together to collaborate and unlock their ideas, tap into their knowledge and use that to positively impact the Strategy and its delivery.”
Parks & Leisure Australia President Kristin Davies enjoyed spending the day with likeminded people from across the country.
“It’s the first time I’ve been this excited about genuine game changing collaboration,” Davies said, who is on the Places to Play Project Squad.
“We are now in a position to achieve a unified approach to optimise sports participation and experience in Australia.”
City of Melbourne’s Cathy Kiss and Squash Australia’s Shaun McEachin were both members of the National Sport Participation Strategy project steering group in 2023 and are returning to share their expertise.
The Project Squads will meet weekly and report into the Play Well Leadership Group which was announced in March and includes the founder of parkrun Australia, a four-time Paralympian and the President of the Royal Life Saving Society.
The strategy and its call to Play Well compliments Australia’s High Performance 2032+ Sport Strategy which is built on creating environments where athletes and sports can Win Well.
