We would love to see as many girls and families as possible this Sunday at Box Hill City Oval (9am -12pm) for this free event to promote and engage our future female participants.

There will be many activities from Cricket games, Inflatables for classic catches, face painting, music, dancing and free give always. All Free

An exciting announcement from Topline!

We are pleased to welcome Una Raymond-Hoey to our Specialist Cricket Coaching Team.  Una is a current Irish International with extensive coaching experience playing this summer for Ringwood CC.

She is available on Tuesday and Friday from 4.00pm and on Saturday mornings by arrangement.  Please call asap to make your booking.P: (03) 9761 5881

Hi all

Ignore this if you have received this grant in the last 2 years as you are ineligible.

Please note that this grant has become increasingly competitive and you can only be successful if we can substantiate a real need for the funds that will in turn deliver significant and lasting benefits. Looking for funding one new random female team for example will probably not suffice.

Applications under the Social or Modified Sport Program category are highly encouraged.

Under the Increasing Female participation category, projects will be assessed by our team closely, as from experience projects “just” intending on adding a female team in 2020 for example will not achieve funding. To be successful we will need to demonstrate a solid need for the project and that the project addresses the need identified very well. Also, while this grant focuses in part on increasing female participation, this needs to be part of the strategic direction of the club creating pathways and opportunities as opposed to opportunistically creating a team because a few girls want to play.

Vic Health are looking for eligible organisations under either of the following 2 categories:

1. implement a NEW social or modified sport program through your club to increase participation of either or both genders of low-participation groups, e.g. Football Federation Victoria’s Summer Sevens, AFL 9s, Auskick, Bowls Victoria’s Jack Attack, Netball 5s, Net Set go, Fast 4 tennis, T20 Blast, Aussie Hoops, Wheelchair Tennis, Walking soccer / basketball, introductory junior programs, sport-based fitness programs (e.g. Cardio Tennis, Fit Football), programs designed for people with disability, etc. are great examples of sport programs that are less structured / less competitive with a focus on fun and social interaction that fits in with peoples’ lifestyles, which in turn attracts participants that would normally not want to compete in a traditional structured, competitive and inflexible environment.

2. Or increasing and / or retaining FEMALE participation in sport via a NEW initiative (new female team/s, new activities, new programs or new competitions) from June 2020. Grant funds cannot be used retrospectively. There will be another round of this grant around mid-2020 potentially more suitable for Summer type sports adding to participation in late 2020 to early 2021.

Like previous rounds, the grant will generally fund:
• core equipment, uniforms, injury prevention items
• start-up costs (team affiliation costs)
• training material, education or training for coaches, facilitators, deliverers or instructors so that they can deliver a new participation initiative (e.g. community coaching course, training specific to a new social sport)
• licence fees to allow your club to offer a new social or modified sport program
• marketing/promotional activities (up to $500 for the $3,000 tier and up to $1,000 for the $10,000 tier)
• venue hire, deliverer fees, and small upgrades that will make your club environment more welcoming to women and girls. Maximum funding that can be requested for these categories is $1,000. E.g.
– Court hire fees on weekday mornings to support a new social competition,
– fees for a facilitator to run the newly created Sunday morning Junior Hoops program,
– block out curtains to increase privacy for players in the change rooms,
– play pens for babies to be in a safe location on the green whilst their mums are actively participating in a new Bowling with Babies program.

Please note that major infrastructure cannot be funded under small environmental changes category.
The funds will need to increase and / or maintain participation among females as well as other low participation groups in physically active sport… which in turn increases health. Core essential playing and training equipment that is retained by the club is generally the most successful as it has the longer term and more certain benefits. Equipment is generally always needed, and it helps minimise fees and encourage more enjoyable participation.

A good example would be “We need equipment for a new U14’s and U16’s girls team that we are forming to plug a critical gap in our female football program. We currently have Junior Girls and Senior Women’s teams, but are now looking to bridge the gap with our new teams so that we truly offer a pathway for our girls and young women to continue to participate in active sport. This grant funding will help us keep fees to a minimum while offering a quality experience, in turn increasing girls’ self-esteem and making them feel valued as club members.”

The items must be core / mandatory for participation e.g. balls. Tracksuits and bags to make the team look more professional (for example) are not eligible to be applied for. We can also refer to Vic Health’s list to check if what you want to apply for is eligible or not. But remember that the gist of the grant is not about “the grant funds equipment and we need equipment so let’s apply for some money”.

Applying for $10,000 is generally suited to Larger clubs or Leagues / Associations with larger initiatives in mind. An organisation must have at least 200+ participants with multiple teams and wants to make a big impact on participation numbers. There are a few more requirements to complete a $10,000 application e.g. a 90 second video, the Organisation’s vision, etc. and we will work through this with you to complete the application.

The attached link to this Video summarises this grant and may help to provide you with a good idea of what the Government is seeking to promote:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MANQ7EqNseQ&feature=youtu.be

This Girl Can – Victoria Campaign Support
With this round, Vic Health is offering successful clubs an additional $2,000 of funding to support the “This Girl Can – Victoria” campaign. Funds would be used to cover any staff or volunteer time (honorarium) or any material expenses such as printing of posters that the club would incur in promoting this campaign via the club website, social media, etc. Let us know if are interested in at least tentatively committing to promote this campaign and potentially obtain this additional funding. This additional funding is also highly competitive, so don’t assume success for these funds as a consequence of being successful for the grant itself.

You can definitely commit or otherwise at the time of signing any funding agreements if successful.

Applications Close: Monday 24 February 2020. For us to guarantee meeting this deadline, can you please ensure that you supply all necessary information by COB Thursday 20 February 2020 at the latest. As always, we will do our best to assist with late applications, but cannot guarantee submission.

Notification of Outcome: On or before 30 April 2020

Funding Distribution: June 2020

If you could please let us know if you are interested in us applying on your behalf and also advise what initiative(s) you plan to deliver that you believe are eligible. We will take it from there and likely to have a chat with you. Remember, success will be based on the demonstrated need for the initiative you are applying for and why you believe that your club should and can meet this need. The initiative should also fit in well with your club strategy.

Yours Sportingly
Omee Garcia
Grant Professionals
03 7019 8718