This collaboration marks a significant step towards creating a netball community where everyone feels welcome and supported to participate, on and off the court.
Netball Queensland, with its 82 associations and over 300 clubs, is deeply committed to enriching lives through netball. They are passionate about building safe, supportive, and inclusive environments for people of all genders, sexualities, ability levels, ethnicities, religions, ages, and life stages. This partnership perfectly complements Netball Queensland’s recent grant funding secured to further disability inclusion initiatives.
"We are very excited at Sport4All to partner with Netball Qld to support a great sport and align with their vision of building the netball community’s confidence and capability around disability inclusion,” says Kim Abbott, Sport4All’s State Sport Inclusion Coach for Queensland.
"The Sport4All program provides education, training and resources that are available to the entire Netball Qld community to provide guidance and support, as well as empower associations, clubs, and their members about the value of including people with a disability through all levels of Netball."
The partnership will focus on supporting netball associations to create welcoming environments for people with disability. This includes increasing participation opportunities for women with an intellectual disability in disability sports programs and pathways.
"It is so important our work in the disability space is informed and guided by experts in the field,” says Autumn Pierce, Head of Social Impact at Netball Queensland.
"This partnership will ensure we employ and promote best practice strategies to significantly increase the number of people with disabilities playing and enjoying netball across Queensland."
Sarah Grant, Diversity and Inclusion Manager at Netball Queensland adds: “We are thrilled to partner with Sport4All to continue to grow safe and welcoming places for people with a disability to be involved in netball at all levels of the game. The partnership will enable us to provide tailored support and to increase the capacity of associations across Queensland to make our sport more inclusive and accessible to everyone in our community.”
By working together, Sport4All and Netball Queensland aim to break down barriers and create pathways for people with disability to participate in netball. This includes providing resources, education, and training to challenge stereotypes, support the delivery of accessible and inclusive play opportunities, and promote greater participation.
