Over the past 9 months, Basketball Victoria along with other states (NSW, Queensland, Tasmania, South Australia and Western Australia) have provided an opportunity for young girls and women of Culturally & Linguistically Diverse (CALD) backgrounds to participate in an introductory basketball program and in turn link them into mainstream basketball at their local Associations.
Key objectives of the program were to:
• Introduce the game of basketball to women/girls from diverse communities;
• Encourage participation – through flexibility, patience, and understanding within a fun and safe environment;
• Build on basketball interest;
• Encourage diversity and inclusion in sport;
• Promote and support Harmony Day and the Racism. It Stops With Me campaign; and
• Increase membership by “linking” the participants to an Association to continue involvement in basketball.
Basketball Australia Multicultural Officer Natascia Crisci believes a lot of groundwork has been done in engaging girls, with positive outcomes growing for local communities across Australia.
“All states have done a remarkable job getting this program up and running and I have been lucky enough to visit to see the girls learning our game and having a great time in doing so,” Ms Crisci said.
“Sport is a great social leveller and when it is done in such a fun, safe environment it just shows how similar we all are.”
A number of activities were conducted in 2013 to promote culture and diversity in Australian basketball, including:
• The Female Shooting Hoops Introductory Program (SHIP) which engaged 290 participants across Queensland, Tasmania, South Australia, Western Australia and Victoria;
• The Come and Try Multicultural Gala Day in partnership with the GWS Giants (AFL);
• The Racism. It Stops with Me campaign;
• Harmony Day ¬– attended by around 1000 people
The following resources were also produced and are now available online:
• SHIP 6-week Program Introductory Resource
• How to Play Basketball in Australia Resource
As the DIAC funding comes to a close for 2013, the programs have been evaluated and a Case Study Resource has been produced as a support mechanism to assist local Basketball Associations to understand how to engage women and girls (13-18+ years). The resource is now available to Associations across Australia.
