By The Australian Sports Turf Managers Association

The Australian Sports Turf Managers Association announced an industry first program to support female sports turf managers - Women in Turf Strategy.

Women continue to be underrepresented in the sports turf management industry; with females making up only 1.4% of qualified trade workers, and the Women in Turf Strategy developed by the Association aims to redress this gender and diversity balance.

This strategy has been developed in response to the disproportionately low number of females undertaking apprenticeships in Sports Turf Management and the currently low volume of females right across the Sports Turf Management industry.

“Women face a range of barriers inhibiting their choice to participate in trades” commented Australian Sports Turf Managers Association Chief Executive, Mark Unwin on the release of the strategy.

“The Association, through development of this Strategy, is focussed on leading the way in increasing the awareness and appeal of sports turf management as a career option for females, facilitating networking & employment opportunities to remove barriers and drive cultural change, and supporting learning and development for female turf managers to increase career opportunities.”

The Women in Turf Strategy establishes the framework to develop a long-term approach to support female sports turf managers, the establishment of a pathways initiative to increase the number of females in the industry and a program of sustainable support and skills development to drive diversity and inclusion in the industry.

The Women in Sports Turf Management Program focuses on two target areas:

• Attract: A strategy that will pioneer new and innovative ways to increase participation of women in Sports Turf Management.

• Retain: The advancement of vocational opportunities, developing experienced and qualified workers through a series of pathway and support initiatives

“Our aim is to establish the Women in Turf Strategy as an advocacy platform and ensure trade pathways for women are informed, accessible and supported and that we drive an increase in awareness of gender diversity across the industry to assist women to take the first step and transition into a career in turf management,” said Unwin.

The Women in Turf Strategy and associated initiatives will be informed by research, consultation and be data-driven to support initiatives that will increase the appeal of sports turf management to women, improve career pathways in workplaces and maximise vocational outcomes.

The desired outcome of increasing the percentage of females undertaking apprenticeships and improving the workforce diversity, will have the added benefit of assisting to address current industry challenges in workforce participation and retention.