NSWRL director Carolyn Campbell spoke to a cross-section of female leaders in Sydney today reinforcing the opportunities, and providing guidelines, to help them excel in the national sports environment.
“The world is your oyster. You will see things you want to change, things you want to be. In all those things believe in what you want to achieve,” Campbell told participants in NSWRL’s 2024 Women In Sports Leadership (WISL) program at the NSWRL Centre of Excellence at Sydney Olympic Park.
“There is so many opportunities in sport. There’s so much out there as sport is growing and growing. You can see it in increased rates of registrations and participations each year.”
This year 21 women from 10 different sports are completing the 20-week course, which initially had female coaches in mind when it started in 2021 but has evolved to cater for the wide variety of leadership roles available in sport.
In the 2024 WISL intake there are also executives, managers, officials, and co-ordinators from sporting organisations representing Rugby League, athletics, surf life saving, tennis, touch football, basketball, gymnastics, volleyball, lawn bowls, and football.
The NSWRL-funded program is run in conjunction with University of New England (UNE) Partnerships and recognises the barriers which women face in achieving leadership roles across elite sports. It offers a unique training opportunity to support the career development of the participants.
“This program fills a big niche that was missing in our sector and in the interactions we have,” she said.
Campbell represents 35 years in the sporting landscape having worked as a physical education teacher in Perth before moving into administrative roles in sports including netball, basketball, volleyball and hockey.
She is a former Sport NSW Chair and Venues NSW Director and currently is CEO of Scouts NSW. As an athlete she captained the Under 21 Australian hockey team.
Today she provided WISL participants with some tips she has set as her guidelines in her working life.
“Be yourself and back yourself. You don’t have to be anybody else, just you,” Campbell said.
“I hit a lot of forks in the road at different times and you will too – when you have to make decisions and stay true to yourself.
“There’s nothing I can tell you today to prepare you to make those decisions. And at times you might have to have difficult conversations like ‘I really don’t want to do this’.
“But your clarity about who you are, how you want to spend your time, and where you want to put your energy, are your best assets.
“Another tip is have a personal board of directors, or in other words surround yourself with key people with certain skills, who might be able to assist you.
“It is someone who won’t say ‘you’re incredible’ but someone who will always challenge you because they want you to grow. They are two or three people who you trust that can advise or mentor you.
“Always seek first to understand. It’s critical to take some time out to give yourself the space to deal with whatever it is that might be difficult.
“And never let a chance go by. Nearly every role in my working career is because a chance came up and not because I sat down and plotted a path.”
This is the fourth intake of participants for the WISL program. The course covers two Diploma and Certificate-level modules, which will give participants nationally-recognised credit towards a Diploma or Certificate IV in leadership and management.
They will complete the course in December, with the graduation ceremony early next year.
