Broadmeadows Basketball Association (BBA) is pleased to share its first Gender Equality Action Plan.

BBA are proud to be one of eight basketball associations across Victoria participating in the Victorian Government funded Crash the Boards project (led by Collingwood Basketball) to support actions that help address the underlying drivers for preventing gender-based violence through sport.

BBA have a long history of supporting inclusion and diversity, being one of the first associations to employ a full time community engagement staff member and twice receiving Basketball Victoria’s Inclusive Association of Year award.

The launch of the 2022 to 2024 Gender Equality Action Plan at the Association’s 2023 Big V Season Launch on Monday evening capped off a week-long campaign as part of International Women’s Day and is something President Peter Jackson is very proud of: “The Action Plan is a significant milestone for our Association in visibly committing to a range of actions that will solidify our commitment and guide us towards our vision for an Association that is genuinely a place where everyone feels safe, respected and equal – regardless of ability, background or gender.”

Basketball is the fastest growing community sport in Victoria, with 240,000 registered members in 2020 and another 180,000 casual participants across the state. BBA is one of the largest providers of sport in Hume City and continues to increase its structured and social program offerings to remove or lower barriers to playing basketball.

Community Engagement Executive, Hannah Gentz, has been integral to the work in this space and sees first-hand how beneficial programs like this are for the local community:

“Having overcome a lot of the challenges around return to sport following the disruptions of 2020 and 2021, we are now focused on growing and retaining our participation base among players, coaches, volunteers and officials – with a particular focus on women. The Crash the Boards project has been perfect timing for us in providing guidelines around best practice for implementing a whole of organisation approach to improving gender equality through sport,” Ms Gentz said.

Crash the Boards Program Manager, Katrina Hibbert (former Australian Opal and WNBL head coach) applauded the work of the Broadmeadows Basketball Association.

“They (BBA) really do set a high standard when it comes to inclusion, and from the get-go have been very supportive of the project and have even attended extra professional development and capacity building workshops to prepare their staff with the confidence to drive a lot of the change at their organisation,” she said.

“Basketball is one of the highest participation sports in Victoria, and has always attracted a diverse participation base, and it is so important for our sporting environments to cater for this.

The Australian Opals women’s team showed how strong we are on the national level and provide great role models for young boys and girls to aspire to.”

Deputy Mayor of Hume City, Councillor Karen Sherry and Meadow Valley Ward Councillor Naim Kurt, who were both present at Monday’s launch, noted that the leadership demonstrated by Broadmeadows Basketball through their diverse and inclusive programs is highly regarded across the community, adding that “We look forward to seeing the roll-out of their action plan over the next 18 months.”

Over the next few weeks, junior coaches will undertake a workshop and implement a short training drill with players at their weekly training. A theme round championed by Big V players at a home game during the upcoming season is also being planned.