Cadbury has launched its National Women in Sport initiative to drive equality and participation in women’s sports in Australia.
As part of the initiative, the brand will work with sporting codes and teams across AFLW, NRLW, the Australian Women’s Cricket team and the Westfield Matildas to help grow participation at grassroots levels and address the high dropout rate of organised sports for girls aged 15+ – which is currently one in every two players.
Cadbury will also highlight leading Australian female athletes to drive awareness of the opportunities for professional female players and to provide positive and progressive sporting role models. Among those featured in the two year partnership are Cadbury Ambassadors Akec Makur Chuot, an AFLW player with Richmond Football Club, Westfield Matildas defender Alanna Kennedy, Dally M Women’s Player of the Year and Illawarra Dragons NRLW player Jess Sergis and Australian Young Cricketer of the Year Tayla Vlaeminck.
Each will feature in Cadbury’s Ambassador content series, where they visit local sporting clubs to share their own experiences and answer young players questions about how they pushed through in a male dominated field and pushed back on stereotypes about women in their respective codes.
For Jess Sergis, she shares how these almost made her turn away from rugby.
“When I was 12 years old, I stopped playing rugby, simply because of the restrictions placed on girls playing against boys. In the last few years, the game has grown so much, and we’ve worked so hard to ensure that our women’s game gets the same recognition as the men. I’m so honored to be a part of this incredible campaign, helping to inspire younger girls to play sport,” she shares.
For Alanna Kennedy, the partnership is a chance to help young girls kick their own goals.
“We’re delighted to have CADBURY on board to support the Westfield Matildas and the growth of our sport. With the efforts of CADBURY, women’s football can continue to grow on a world stage and young girls can fulfil their dream of becoming a Matilda, or simply just have fun on the field with friends.”