The WattleNest’s Post

It’s incredible the number of people that believe elite athletes are all well paid, well compensated and sponsored. This simply isn’t the case for the overwhelming majority of sports, even highly visible ones. Athletes giving themselves to compete for their country should not have to decide between competing and eating or homing themselves. But this fact is true for many. Listen to Rachel Condos-Fields GAICD from The WattleNest talk about what needs to happen and why this is so important. The time for change is now! #EliteSport #Sport #sponsorship #AthleteLife #Australian #CorporateSupport #Impact #Paralympics #Olympics

Taking cues from the #Matildas, we witness the transformative power of effective teamwork, the strategic prowess that comes with adaptability, and the impact of mentorship on achieving remarkable #outcomes. Embark on your #leadership journey today, leveraging lessons from the pitch that can elevate your business game to unprecedented heights. 🌟🚀 #BusinessStrategy #Teamwork #Mentorship #LeadershipDevelopment"

This feels like a pivotal opportunity that’s been coming. One wonders what the criteria for a successful bid will be and how much of a guarantee of a ‘sustainable business’ bid that will represent. Will there be a template? Will they take advice? Will sponsors show the same relish that they have for top tier women’s football? How will counties avoid the pitfalls of other sports faced with the opportunities and risks of creating a new sustainable sports business? It’s going to be interesting. #sustainablesport #womenssport #countycricket #sportfinance #sportssponsorship Victoria Hartley Will Collinson Andy Westlake Coral Consulting

'Sport haters' gonna hate... With the start of the AFL and NRL footy seasons just around the corner, research conducted by RMIT's Dean of Economics, Finance and Marketing Heath McDonald has found around 20% of Australians are self-described 'sport haters', despite Australia being a long-described sports-mad nation. In this article for The Conversation Australia + NZ, Prof McDonald and co-author Hunter Fujak question whether it might be time for 'sport haters' to start a new support group given the number of key sports events leading up to the 2032 Brisbane Olympics. Are you one of these 'sport-haters'? If so, you can contribute to their ongoing research via the link in the article. https://lnkd.in/gdVwCKYa

#ICYMI | A record $283 million investment in sport announced by the Prime Minister The Hon Anthony Albanese at the Australian Institute Of Sport. The $54.9 million additional para sport funding, doubling the existing support, will address better classification opportunities, access to fit-for-purpose training environments, and specialised coaching and performance support. The historic investment also gives athletes, coaches, and staff the opportunity to achieve their full potential by providing: • An investment of $17.6 million over two years to the Direct Athlete Investment Support Grants (dAIS) program to address cost of living pressures. • Access to more domestic and international competitions to regularly compete against the world’s best in preparation for major sporting events. • Extra training, wellbeing, and preparation support, including access to world leading coaches and performance support staff. Australian Olympic Committee | Paralympics Australia Read more 👉 https://lnkd.in/guar5Ax3

This is beyond disturbing and embarrassing. There is no place for dishonesty and manipulation. Cheating in sports fundamentally undermines the core principles and values that make sports meaningful and respected. Cheating in sports is antithetical to the essence of sportsmanship. It undermines trust, devalues true effort, talent and meritocracy. This highlights a bigger problem in our world - the lack of accountability that we hold leaders to which sends a message to the world on what we tolerate as a society. We need bolder stances to drive moral and ethical standards in sports and in business. Canada should have had their opportunity to play at the Olympics taken away. If you feel the need to cheat, then you don't deserve to play. It is a privilege to even play on a world stage such as this. Curious to know your thoughts on this one, drop comments below. #sports #meritocracy #olympics #accountability #leadership https://lnkd.in/g67_kQWi

It’s with great pride that I announce three major athlete funding initiatives: 1 - Aspiring Australian Olympic Athlete Fund, in addition to the AOC’s Medal Incentive Funding (MIF) The existing MIF remains, but will also allow donors to contribute additional funds to medal winning athletes including team sports. The second fund is new. The ‘Aspiring Australian Olympic Athlete Fund’ will be structured to allow donations to individual athletes, focussed on providing support to those aspiring to attend an Olympics, or those who qualify to attend a Games. 2 - Indigenous Athlete Support Grant scheme Furthering the AOC’s objective to provide practical support to Indigenous Australians, the Indigenous Athlete Support Grant scheme has been developed for the Paris Olympic Games to support Indigenous athletes selected in the Australian Olympic Team. Grants of $5,000 will be awarded to eligible athletes to assist their Olympic journeys to Paris 2024 to athletes who meet the criteria approved by the AOC Indigenous Advisory Committee. 3 Australian Olympic Indigenous Athlete Fund The Australian Olympic Indigenous Athlete Fund is being created, designed to generate between $500,000 to $1 million per year to enhance opportunities and pathways for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander athletes in high-performance Olympic sports. This will simultaneously promote increased representation of First Nations athletes at Olympic Games leading up to the Brisbane 2032 Olympic Games and beyond. The AOC will encourage high net worth individuals seeking a return on investment, to invest through the Fund, thus gaining access to a curated portfolio of Australian and global fund managers. Bring on #Paris2024

https://lnkd.in/g-tafRXA Interesting article. And Ange Postecoglou is right. Now I have been away from the sport for nearly a year, football in Australia needs a new model. I agree with splitting the A-Leagues away from the rest - in the long term it will work. However, for the rest there is too much duplication, too many levels, too many agendas (but that goes for many sports), funding going all over the place, assets not utilised efficiently and effectively - the list is endless. If changes do not happen, football in Australia will just continue to chug along. Please, I am not having a go at people that are involved in the sport - many of them want change. For change to take place you need the right people involved with clear independence and no agendas. Start strategising. As a starting point football should start really utilising its participation numbers as leverage - with sponsors, and with all levels of Government. Politicians need votes!! There are positives in the sport. Heaps of positives in football in Australia. Look at the recent Women's World Cup. Look at the Men's performance in their recent World Cup. Look at the folks in the local parks playing the sport that they love. Need to start building on these positives. #football #sportsbusiness #sportsmodel #sponsorship #strategy

The First Matildas - controversial or correcting an historical omission? When Football Australia announced this past week it was recognising the 1975 team of Australian women who played in an international tournament in Hong Kong, thereby changing the historical record of Australia's national Matildas team, there was understandably some confusion, anger, and a lot of questions. A moment of celebration for the women of 1975 has been tempered by those who disagree with the recognition. History is never a straight path - it has twists and turns, it inspires debates and disagreements, it is often challenged. So why did Football Australia feel the need to make the change, and what was the criteria used? Chairman Anter Isaac told The Sports Ambassador podcast there was precedent, and the now established criteria will be used to gauge any future challenges to recognition of national players and teams. Matildas Alumni spokesperson, Renaye Iserief, speaks about the confusion that remains and the impact on Matildas players; the newly recognised first captain of the Matildas, Pat O'Connor, details the specifics around the 1975 tournament which was the precursor to today's Asian Cup; and Dr Karen Menzies, who has been recognised for almost four decades as Australia's first Indigenous Matildas representative shares her story of the importance of football and handing over the 'first Indigenous player' title to Aunty Tarita Yvonne Peters. #governance #ethics #transparency #matildas #football #soccer #FIFA #AFC #footballaustralia #politics #sport https://lnkd.in/g7GdM-Rr

Origin histories, especially those surrounding national team selection, are to me kind of arbitrary but this historiographical debate is significant. As Tracey Holmes so nicely captures: "History is never a straight path- it has twists and turns, it inspires debates and disagreements, it is often challenged". While the origins of men's sport and team selections have inspired rigorous and vigorous debate and discussion in Australia for decades, women's sport has not received the same treatment. For example, despite the popularity and success of netball in Australia its origins have only been studied by a handful of historians. There are no real twists and turns in that history because not all that many people have cared to argue over it. That is not to suggest women's sport histories haven't been written but when they are they are rarely challenged. The truth of women's sport history is largely uncontested. I have said elsewhere we need to be cautious about claiming the 'Matildas effect' as evidence of a gender revolution in sport but there is something in this historical disagreement. This is about more than just naming and celebrating a national team. The arguments surrounding the first Matildas reveal that there is something at stake, something worth arguing over. So for what it's worth I'm following the to and fro with optimistic interest.