United creating safe learning environments through United for Her

With so many young women from different cultures eager to get involved in basketball, Melbourne United is excited to continue working to create safe and inclusive learning environments through our United for Her program.

One such example is the work the program has done alongside the Koorie Academy and its Strong Tiddas program.

Head Female Coach and Mentor at Koorie Academy, Bianca Baldwin, touched on how partnering with the United for Her program has made it more accessible for young girls to get in touch with their culture, while engaging with sport.

“Some of the barriers that mob face in accessing sport is financial; it can be really expensive for families. Transport can be really hard to get to and from and really demanding on families,” Baldwin said.

“It's important to have young women accessing their culture in a powerful way because it gives them a sense of who they are and who they want to be.

“When you give people the space, they get to take that up and they get to learn and step into a version of themselves that they didn't get to before.”

United for Her Program Facilitator, Charlee Cornford, added what she has seen during her time running the program.

“We look at creating empowering and safe spaces for girls to be who they want to be and feel safe to play basketball in their communities,” Cornford explained.

“It gives women an opportunity to be seen in the basketball community, and it gives them an opportunity to do things they wouldn't be able to usually.

“It's super important for us at United for Her to include a range of different cultures as there's a range of different barriers that come with each culture, and they'll have their own set of needs that we need to help them get through.”

To find out for about United for Her, click here.

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