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Breaking Barriers: ‘Let’s Play Women’s Badminton’ Initiative Creates More Opportunities for Women and Girls in Sport
Published Sun 02 Mar 2025
Sport should be for everyone, and thanks to the Change Our Game Community Activation Grants Program, several Badminton Victoria (BV) member clubs have successfully hosted free ‘Let’s Play Women’s Badminton’ events, bringing inclusive and vibrant sporting opportunities to women across Melbourne. These events go beyond just encouraging participation—they actively promote gender equality, challenge stereotypes in sport, and create safe and welcoming spaces for women and girls to play badminton.
The “Change Our Game” grant, which is established by the Office for Women in Sport and Recreation (OWSR), is designed to encourage women’s participation in sport and active recreation while breaking down gender barriers. Funding from this program enables the creation of initiatives like “Let’s Play Women’s Badminton” to take place.
BV Chief Executive Officer Clint Proctor emphasized the importance of securing ongoing funding to ensure lasting impact for women’s
participation in sport.
“Female participation is at the heart of what we do, and ongoing funding is crucial to sustaining and expanding opportunities for women and girls in badminton. The ‘Change Our Game’ grant has been instrumental in breaking down barriers, but continued investment is needed to build long-term pathways, strengthen accessibility, and create a lasting impact for women in sport.”
As host of the Let’s Play Badminton initiative, four member clubs—Northern Ladies Badminton Association, Sunbury Ladies Badminton Club, Eastern Ladies Badminton Association, and Bendigo Eaglehawk Badminton Association— brought free badminton activities to women's groups across different regions. These events allowed participants, including those from both Melbourne’s CBD and regional Victoria, to experience badminton in a supportive, judgement-free environment. 
The President of Eastern Ladies Badminton Association, ex-Australian player and coach, Tracey Ritchie (the second person from right to left in the photo above) shared her thoughts about the “Let’s Play” event, which opens up an opportunity for women who may be apprehensive to walk into a stadium of strangers to feel safe and welcomed and have an organised playing session.
“Hosting the ‘Let’s Play Women’s Badminton’ event was very important because Eastern Ladies Badminton Association is passionate about women playing badminton, all ages, all abilities, offering competition for our ladies and social badminton.”
“Female participation is so important for mental and physical health. Badminton offers an opportunity for improving physical fitness, adding to mental fitness, meeting new people, social activities off the court and a feeling of belonging to a friendly group.”
Thanks to the Change Our Game grant, we can continue supporting initiatives that make badminton more accessible and inclusive for women across Victoria. Badminton Victoria looks forward to creating more opportunities for women and girls to engage in sports—whether in Melbourne’s CBD or regional areas, local or cultural and linguistic diverse background—through fun, active, and empowering programs.
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