City commits to elevating women in sport

City of Newcastle has cemented its ongoing commitment to female sporting talent by sponsoring a range of women’s sporting events including rugby, soccer and surfing over the next 12 months.

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In addition to its ongoing support of the Newcastle Jets W-League team, City of Newcastle has committed as a sponsor for the Newcastle Knights inaugural women's team's historic debut in the 2021 National Rugby League Telstra Women’s Premiership.

City of Newcastle will also bring the fast-paced Women's Rugby 7s to No.2 Sportsground along with the 'Girls Day Out' which features surfing clinics hosted by local Phillipa Anderson.

Newcastle Lord Mayor Nuatali Nelmes said investment in women's sport was paying off with increased local participation and crowd numbers at events.

“Our region has a long and proud history of producing top female sporting talent, including the likes of football's Emily van Egmond, surfing's Phillipa Anderson, netball’s Sam Poolman and paratriathlon's Lauren Parker,” Cr Nelmes said.

“City of Newcastle is committed to supporting local women's sport because of the range of health, wellbeing and social outcomes delivered by seeing talented female athletes show their skills.

“The City has over recent years worked to bring top female sports such as the Matildas to Newcastle and over the next financial year is investing $50,000 across the Knights, Jets, Women's Rugby 7s and 'Girls Day Out' clinics.

"We'll continue to support local women's sports while working to attract top level international fixtures to encourage female sporting participation and attract the growing fan-bases to the city."

Newcastle Jets mid-fielder Cassidy Davis welcomed the ongoing support provided by the City of Newcastle.

“My teammates and I really enjoy playing at No.2 Sportsground as our home ground, thanks to the ongoing support of City of Newcastle. As a proud Novocastrian, I look forward to continuing to showcase Newcastle to the rest of Australia through televised matches and at our games,” Ms Davis said.

City of Newcastle has proudly hosted international women's matches including the Matildas and Wallaroos on several occasions, and is working to attract further major international women’s sporting events in the future.

Sporting events contribute considerably to Newcastle's economy, destination profile and liveability for residents.

Image caption: Lord Mayor Nuatali Nelmes with Uni Women's Rugby back-rower Anika Butler, surfer Elle Clayton-Brown and Jets W-League mid-fielder Cassidy Davis.