Bowls Australia’s (BA) Our Future Female Leaders Program concluded yesterday, having provided development opportunities for 14 women working in management, administration, coaching and playing roles within the sport.

The program was a learning and development initiative that was significantly supported by the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) and Sport Australia through the Women Leaders in Sport (WLIS) grant program.

The course’s first module was completed last year, via online schooling thanks to facilitation by the Melbourne Business School (MBS).

This year however, the second and third modules were completed in person at the MBS, with the students praising the program, which is tailored to women in varying roles throughout the sport.

Those three modules involved working as an individual, alongside others and finally how to work collaboratively, with each building onto the next.

BCiB Jackaroo Lynsey Clarke was a participant in the program and is overjoyed with the outcome and the learnings she has picked up along the way.

“It is hard to just pinpoint a couple of things, all three modules helped in developing our skill sets to be a little bit better as leaders and to share our skills with each other,” Clarke said.

“Personally I think it’s going to help me to hopefully become a better leader in our sport, to have better conversations, be a great role model and pass on information to others that I work with.

“The program also gave the 14 of us a great connection and helped us build some really strong relationships.”

Bowls Australia Executive Assistant Bronwyn White echoed Clarke’s sentiments, stating that the three modules are phenomenal ways to build individuals and teams.

“There are three things that came out of it for me, one being the opportunity to connect with a diverse range of women already working in our sport, both diverse in their roles, and where they are based,” White said.

“Second was that it was a really beautifully designed course in terms of opportunities for individual growth.

“Finally, in bringing the group together and building the connectivity in the group, as well as their skill set, the benefits to the sport of bowls will be amazing.”

This is a media release from Bowls Australia written by Val Febbo.