Ms THEOPHANOUS (Northcote): It was so wonderful to be able to attend the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup final at the MCG on International Women’s Day. It was even better to be able to watch our Aussie girls take home the trophy, defeating India by 85 runs. It was brilliant to see over 86 000 people supporting our girls. The feeling was electric both inside and outside the G, and there were so many families with young children as well.
In the weeks previous I encouraged primary schools within my electorate to enter a drawing competition. Students were asked to draw a woman in sport and tell me the reason they inspire them. The results were absolutely wonderful and showed just how important it is to have female role models in sport. We had many entries and learned about many inspirational women, from a student’s mum who coaches her local netball team to the likes of athletes like Cathy Freeman and Betty Cuthbert. A big congratulations to all our winners, including Olivia, grade 3, from Alphington Primary, who is inspired by young tennis legend Ash Barty; Ella, grade 2, at Westgarth Primary, inspired by AFLW player Jess Edwards, who is also a teacher at her school; Kaythan, grade 4, from Preston South Primary is inspired by soccer star Sam Kerr; Taj Pearson, grade 6, is inspired by surfer Bethany Hamilton; and Isla, grade 2, from Bell Primary School, who is inspired by Aussie cricketer Ellyse Perry. As you can see, the students were inspired by women from a whole range of sports. It may be awhile before we get to attend a sporting event like we did for the women’s cricket final, but that makes it even more important to keep talking about our sporting heroes.
