Sowing Seeds of Change: ASTMA's Pioneering Work Experience Programs for Women in Sports Turf Management
Learn about the Australian Sports Turf Managers Association (ASTMA)'s Women in Sports Turf Management Strategy — an industry first trade recognition and pathways initiative that aim to provide women with access to opportunities to represent themselves in professions more often dominated by men.
As we celebrate International Women's Day in March, Envu remains committed to uplift and inspire women to pursue goals without bias or barrier in all industries. One of the ways we do this is in supporting our industry associations including the Australian Sports Turf Managers Association (ASTMA) that have developed initiatives that aim to provide women with access to opportunities to represent themselves in professions more often dominated by men.
According to recent findings in the 2021 and 2022 Sports Turf Management Labour Resourcing Survey, women constitute only 1.4% of qualified sports turf management in Australia. As a global comparison, Australia lags behind countries such as Canada, Europe, USA and NZ where women represent between 4% - 7% of the industry’s workforce. This tells us that a lot more can and must be done to increase the representation of women in the turf industry.
To address this issue, in 2022, ASTMA announced an industry first trade recognition and pathways initiative — the Women in Sports Turf Management Strategy.
This program 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. As part of this framework, ASTMA has created a Work Experience Program to provide opportunities for women interested in turf management.
Targeted to support learning and develop for next generation of female leaders, experience programs are available to support female sports turf managers in accessing volunteer work placement opportunities to further develop their skills, knowledge and experience in turf management. To date, with the support of other associations and partners, ASTMA has successfully facilitated several female sports turf managers with volunteer and work placements in key tournaments and sporting events across Australia:
- AFLW Showdown between Port Adelaide and Adelaide (September 2022): In the program’s inaugural placement, five female sports turf managers had the opportunity to work alongside head curator Damian Hough and the Adelaide Oval team to prepare/maintain the surface in the lead-up to and during the match.
- 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup (August 2023): ASTMA facilitated the placement of nine female sports turf managers to work with Justin Lang and his crew at Melbourne Rectangular Stadium (AAMI Park) as it hosted six games throughout the tournament. Done in conjunction with John Deere who supported three of the nine selected.
- 2023 ISPS Handa Australian Open (November 2023): Four female sports turf managers were placed at The Australian Golf Club, primary host venue for Open, for the week of the tournament.
While these are just some key highlights of the progress that ASTMA has achieved over the past 2 years, their work continues. Evidence shows that there are deeply embedded cultural attitudes and perceptions about what roles are ‘suitable’ for women. The Australian Sports Turf Managers Association is committed to ensuring women have full access to opportunity and choice, are valued for their diversity, recognised for their contributions and are able to participate in all aspects of their working life freely and safely. The Women in Turf Strategy builds on this commitment to drive social, economic and cultural change in the sports turf management industry in Australia.
Find out more about the ASTMA Women In Turf Strategy here.
To find out more information, reach out to our team.