Lauren Jackson AO OLY today announced the launch of ‘She Hoops’ a free platform that creates a community for women in basketball to connect, learn and develop.
The platform has been developed by Basketball Australia in conjunction with the Federal Government who are committed to providing women and girls with support to stay involved in sport.
The platform is the first of its kind in sport, connecting all women and girls to the best mentoring, forums, and resources from around the world.
The platform has six sub-sites focusing on coaching, cultural diversity, community, officiating, administrators, and Indigenous inclusion.
Each sub-site will contain free resources including online content, mentoring with legendary NBA official Dee Kantner, former WNBA Commissioner Donna Orender and trailblazing coaches Carrie Graf and Sandy Brondello.
Participants will be able to sign up for live forums and networking events that will be held online.
An exclusive Icon series from some of the most influential women in basketball including WNBA legends Sue Bird, Sheryl Swoopes and Sylvia Fowles are highly anticipated and all content will be available free of charge.
An 'Enlighten Me' insight series will offer glimpses into the lives of women in basketball from community grassroots right through to the elite.
Having played basketball from a young age and navigating through the complexities of high performance, Lauren was committed to developing a resource for all girls and women involved in basketball to help them through the pathways.
“I’ve lived my entire life in basketball and have seen so many girls miss out on opportunities due to lack of resources and support. There are so many pathways in basketball from playing, coaching, refereeing and administration and we need to make it easy for them to find the support that they need. Probably the most important part for me is a sense of community, playing again for the Opals demonstrated the sisterhood that lives in basketball, I want all women to feel connected and empowered to lift each other up. Women supporting women has been so important through my entire career and the purpose of this platform has been designed to broaden this out to the entire community so they can feel welcomed and supported,” said Jackson.
Minister for Sport and Aged Care, Anika Wells, attended the bronze medal game in Sydney on Saturday to support the Opals and said She Hoops would also help our female athletes on the green and gold runway to Brisbane 2032.
“We must do more to help women who love sport, stay in sport, and become better athletes, referees, administrators and people,” Minister Wells said. “I commend Lauren Jackson and Basketball Australia for this initiative that will help females in sport stay connected and develop their passion while allowing them to have long successful careers on and off field.”
Basketball Australia CEO Matt Scriven said Lauren’s determination to give back to women’s basketball is her passion project and she is already making an incredible difference.
“Lauren is passionate about elevating women’s sport, and she doesn’t just talk about it, she makes it happen. This platform comes from a real need for women to be able to access resources and feel part of a community. We need to increase the number of female coaches and this platform will play such an important role in that providing the mentoring, education and pathway support that they need,” said Scriven.
