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At the heart of its female engagement strategy is the Empower Her initiative, its success helping it evolve from an 8-week pilot to a 6-month program.

Funded through the WA Government’s Sport and Recreation Inclusive Participation Program, Empower Her is an avenue for girls to become confident female leaders who excel on and off the court. 

“It’s vital to invest early, because participation tends to drop off as girls get older, with programs like Empower Her helping reverse that trend,” Basketball WA’s Diversity and Inclusion Officer Sarah Munn said.

Basketball WA has also tackled logistical challenges in remote regions like the Kimberley and Pilbara.

“It’s about creating touchpoints…if someone from Derby can come to Broome, upskill, and return home confident to referee, that’s a win,” Ms Munn said.

Now in its second year, Basketball WA is using momentum from year one and support from partners like the University of WA to evaluate and refine its approach.

The organisation also attended the Inclusion Policy Workshop run by AIM WA in partnership with the Department to update its inclusion policy and help guide the organisation’s operations and strategic intent in this area.

“This grant from the WA Government has opened the door for Basketball WA to invest and focus on inclusion, with the results helping showcase to our executive team and board the value of inclusion.

“I’m really glad we had the first year to just give things a go, there hasn’t been that intentional focus on female and Indigenous engagement within basketball like this before.”

Photos:  Empower Her program is finding success on and off the court.  Images courtesy of Basketball WA.