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Where leadership meets sport

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Benita Bittner is a fascinating woman.

The General Manager of Netball ACT, she actually started her sports career in tennis, winning a tennis scholarship to play in the states for four years when she was 17. Over the decades since, she has worked in strategic planning roles for sport, government and private enterprise across the country, in addition to talent development and as an elite coach – before taking on her role at Netball ACT.

In her varied career, Benita has had some fantastic mentors along the way who have helped her in her leadership journey and inspired her to continue to support women’s leadership in sport.

In 2019, Netball ACT was one of nine organisations to receive funding under the inaugural Women’s Sport and Recreation Participation and Leadership Program run by the ACT Government. The funding was for a series of leadership workshops for Netball ACT Academy athletes, coaches and umpires to build resilience and develop their leadership styles.

It’s an area of development that Benita thinks is highly important for young women.

“Netball’s the highest participation female team sport in Australia. So straight away, we’ve got a pretty captive audience of females, wanting to break through at the elite level,” Benita says. “For a lot of young women in sport, it’s about just being able to increase their confidence, not only on the court, but outside as well.”

As players of a team sport, part of that is about gaining the resilience to take and provide feedback in a constructive way, something that is equally as important for athletes, coaches and umpires alike.

“When you’re a teenager, a lot of feedback can be taken like it’s a personal attack, when it’s not really, it’s really just there to help you build on and learn to circle higher,” Benita says. “We consider our umpires to be athletes also, so building resilience for them is important too, because they do cop a lot of flack unfortunately, either justified or not. But it’s a tough job. Being able to provide that feedback, in a way that will educate athletes and coaches is an important skill for them to learn also.”

When it comes to a sport with as high a ratio of female participation as netball, it’s especially important to ensure that leadership training is available for all participants. For Benita, having a grants program that specifically caters to women’s empowerment is a fantastic step in the right direction.

“All you have to do is look at the stats. At the elite level, the number of female coaches is considerably lower than males,” she points out.

And it’s equally dire when it comes to strategic direction at the board level, where women remain underrepresented. Having funding for workshops like the ones Netball ACT delivered this year is one way to start chipping away at what can otherwise feel like a massive problem.

“Netball has a great opportunity with our demographic of athletes to teach them skills that will set them up to be leaders not only the netball court but in their future careers and life.”

With a growth in skills and confidence, Benita is hopeful that more women will be empowered enough to take on leadership positions.

“It’s really just providing athletes with the skills and confidence to really be able to put their hand up and say, ‘yeah, I’ll give this a crack’.”

There’s no doubt about it – Canberra can look forward to a new generation of leading female athletes coming up through the ranks in the future.

The 2019 ACT Sport and Recreation Grants Program, including the Women’s Sport and Recreation Participation and Leadership Program are now open for applications, closing 12 October. To find out more and to apply, head to www.sport.act.gov.au.

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