The Victorian Government has today committed to celebrating Victorian female sporting icons, revealing plans to immortalise a netballer in Melbourne.
Netball Victoria’s petition to honour our iconic netball heroes was launched on International Women’s Day, when CEO, Rosie King highlighted the lack of female representation in Melbourne’s 35 sporting statues – there are currently 29 male statues, three females and three horses immortalised in bronze. For almost 100 years, netball in Australia has celebrated women’s achievements as athletes, from grassroots to the elite. The sport has been a driver for female empowerment on and off the court and remains the number one team sport for females in the country.Netball Victoria CEO, Rosie King is thrilled with the contribution from the Victorian Government and looks forward to bringing the project to life.
“Our incredible sportswomen have inspired us over generations to get involved in sport and recreation, however there is a lack of visible symbols across Melbourne that honours our female sporting icons,” said King.
“Statues and sculptures may be silent, but they speak volumes through symbolism. We are thrilled that the Victorian Government has made the commitment to create statues of our netball icons which will help to level the playing field when it comes to honouring the legends of sport.”
The proposal has been backed by Statues for Equality, a global organisation whose main goal is to achieve gender equality in public art by 2025, with founders Gillie and Marc believing now is the time to create tangible change.
“We founded Statues for Equality in 2018 and are on a mission to balance gender representation in public art while honouring women’s contributions to society. We are so honoured to be putting the ball in the women’s court, creating work that celebrated Victorian netballers,” said Gillie and Marc.
“These statues will change the cultural landscape of Victoria overnight, will tell future generations about how we as a community view the world and will act as a constant reminder of the legacy that these female sporting legends have left their sport.”
Netball Victoria and the Victorian Government will announce further plans on the critical project in due course. Netball Victoria’s proposal to state government can be found here.
