An Epic weekend for Women in Sport

It’s been a fantastic weekend for our Epic women’s teams and one that has highlighted not only the enthusiasm and interest that Australians’ have in elite female sports but also the impact that this is having on women and girls participation at a grass roots level.

Our epic weekend kicked off watching the WBBL Brisbane Heat play at the Gabba on Friday afternoon, where they easily defeated the Adelaide Strikers to keep their finals hopes alive.  To secure a final they needed to win again on Saturday, and while we weren’t able to get to the Gabba to watch in person we spent the second half of the morning glued to the screen at home watching via Facebook live as part of what was a huge digital audience.  It was literally edge of your seat viewing, with the girls claiming victory after a thrilling super over and claiming a third place finish and finals participation.

Once the Heat match was over it was time to head to Coorparoo where the Brisbane Lions WAFL team were making their debut in a practice match against the GWS Giants.  With storm clouds rolling in over Brisbane I was a little worried that the weather would keep people away, but a large and super enthusaistic crowd ringed the ground to watch the girls take to the field.

The wet weather made for a slippery scrappy start, but the Lions controlled the scoreboard and by the time both the ground and the ball dried out a bit they were able to demonstrate a cracking set of skills that excited the crowd no end, and saw them run away with the win.

It was fantastic to see that many of the Brisbane Heat team had come post their morning victory at the Gabba to show their support, knowing all too well what it means to be part of this exciting time in sporting history.  Delissa Kimmince of course is creating history of her own, by playing for both the Heat and the Lions inaugural teams!

We’re so thrilled to have Epic Pharmacy and our 83% female workforce have the opportunity to not only support both teams as they take to the elite stage, but see the real impact they are having on grass roots participation by girls and women. 

Cricket is seeing record participation by girls, with clinics and clubs reporting that girls are signing up in droves and sporting stores seeing unprecedented demand for cricket whites in girls sizes. AFL is already the fastest growing female sport in Queensland, and I can’t imagine that the inaugural women’s competition kicking off in full force will do anything other than add further fuel to that fire. 

We often use the adage ‘you can’t be what you can see’ when talking about the importance of visible female leadership, and both of these teams and their players are doing a truly Epic job of illustrating the powerful impact they can deliver.