New government-funded initiative launched to support Hunter female athletes

SupportHer Co is an initiative of Regional Development Australia (RDA) Hunter.

The not-for-profit organisation will collaborate and partner with businesses to help level the playing field for girls and women in sport.

RDA Hunter associate director of development Leigh Killian, who has been integral to the crowdfunding initiative for Surfest's women's contest, said SupportHer Co will offer athletes access to a range of services, insights and pathway opportunities.

These will include delivering practical advice to better navigate everyday challenges such as health, nutrition, finances and multiple demands on athletes' time.

"This is a program we have been working away at for about 10 months now and it started with identifying a common need when listening to elite female athletes give talks or presentations," Killian told the Newcastle Herald ahead of the launch.

"We also identified that regional areas have limited access to opportunity for female athletes so there is a lot of travel involved to stick with the sport you are passionate about."

SupportHer Co in its initial stages will offer free information sessions and workshops on athlete-led topics by specialists in that field.

Killian said "ambitious plans" for the program as it grew included supporting and guiding community sports clubs in the region to increase female participation, build strong committees, apply for grants, be inclusive and improve facilities for women and girls.

A guest panel of seven-time Paralympian Christie Dawes, Wallaroos halfback Layne Morgan and Newcastle Knights NRLW development player Leah Ollerton spoke at the launch on the struggles they face or have faced in pursuing sport at the elite level while juggling other commitments.

"When Leigh contacted me, I was so excited to see an extra support network for young women in sport," Dawes, who will not compete at the Paris Olympics this year but is instead part of Channel Nine's commentary team for the Games, said.

"There's never been a better time to be a woman in sport than right now. But it's really only if you're at that elite level or if you're at an established club like the Knights or Jets where you're getting all of the support that you need.

"This doesn't want to overtake any of that. It just wants to complement that and it's just a really good value-add for young athletes to get them to that next stage."

When the Merewether 44-year-old mother of two started competing in 1992, support was limited.

"My support network in terms of what these guys are offering was zero," Dawes told the Herald.

"It was athletes. It was my mum driving me to training, and it was wheelchair sports. But they didn't have programs around nutrition and strength and conditioning, women's health, careers.

"This is just a really great springboard for these kids. The amount of time it took me to get good, to win a medal, was 12 or 15 years. Hopefully with this support it will only take these girls five years, less than that, to be performing at the top.

"Sport isn't just turning up to training everyday. It's a holistic approach. You've got to eat well. You've got to sleep well. You've got to create and use your support networks and this is just the perfect approach."

Morgan is juggling Super W and Wallaroos commitments with finishing a teaching degree and working as a teacher.

The 25-year-old from Speers Point knows well the sacrifices it takes to pursue sport at the elite level as a female.

Until recently, when Rugby Australia increased investment in its women players, Morgan clocked up countless hours and kilometres travelling between Newcastle and Sydney to train and play for the NSW Waratahs and Wallaroos.

Morgan is now based in Sydney but was back in Newcastle for the SupportHer Co launch on Thursday and on Saturday will play for the Hunter Wildfires in Jack Scott Cup at No.2 Sportsground after being released by the Wallaroos.

"The SupportHer Co sounds amazing," Morgan told the Herald.

"There's so many young female athletes coming through Newcastle and the Hunter area as is and, with the expansion of rugby union and NRLW, their competitions for the juniors and their pathways are unreal.

"So it's nice to see that so many young girls are coming into professional or semi-professional sports but also having to learn that balance is really hard, trying to navigate your way through that can be really difficult with school, education, jobs, careers.

"It's an awesome foundation that's going to be helping those female athletes coming through navigate those paths and those journeys and help support them be the best athletes they can be."