The AFL hosted the seventh Women’s Industry Lunch today with more than 700 people celebrating 100 years since the first recorded game of Australian Football played by women.
AFL Commissioner, Sam Mostyn, also announced the winner of the Jill Lindsay Scholarship.
Jill Lindsay was the AFL’s longest serving employee having completed 41 years at the AFL in various roles. Jill’s roles included VFL Park match-day manager and VFL membership manager before being appointed grounds operations manager in 1991. On February 7, 2011, Jill passed away after losing her battle with cancer.
In recognition of her outstanding service the AFL Commission created the annual Jill Lindsay Scholarship to be awarded to the female graduate with the most potential to come through the AFL SportsReady program.
The 2015 Award was won by Emily Wastle, the recently appointed Statewide Auskick Coordinator for AFL Queensland.
Emily was the Queensland AFL SportsReady Trainee of the Year in 2012, and has completed Certificates II & III in Community Recreation and a Certificate IV Business.
Emily, 22, spent two years working as the Development Coordinator in the Brisbane South region, and was responsible for the Diversity Portfolio that engaged more than 2000 participants with an Islamic background in her regional area. Emily also coached the Women’s Under-17 regional program, and was assistant coach at the state Under-16 championships
She is completing a Bachelor of Business Management and Human Resources at Griffith University.
AFL Queensland chief executive Michael Conlan said Emily has a great work ethic, is reliable and a fantastic role model.
"Emily is an excellent example of how pathway works from trainee to full-time employee. I congratulate her and look forward to her continued progress," he said.
The scholarship provides $20,000 to assist further education.
AFL General Manager People, Community and Customer, Dorothy Hisgrove said that the Jill Lindsay Scholarship was a great way to encourage young women to further their education and development within the AFL industry.
"We are delighted to have young women like Emily working in the AFL and I know she will be one of our leaders in the future," Ms Hisgrove said.
AFL SportsReady will provide a laptop to assist Emily with her studies.
Leading Australian women’s fashion brand Perri Cutten has kindly made available a voucher to the value of $750, while Andi Pert, a HR consultant specialising in leadership development and executive coaching, will mentor Emily for 12 months. Andi played softball in teams coached by Jill Lindsay.
As the AFL’s official employment and training partner, AFL SportsReady is dedicated to helping all young Australians kick-start their careers through traineeships and educational opportunities. With offices across Australia, the not-for-profit company works in partnership with organisations across a range of industries including sport, business, arts, finance and education to provide real opportunities for both athletes and non-athletes. SportsReady has been providing training and career opportunities for AFL footballers for more than two decades. In total there are 160 trainees currently working in the AFL industry across the country.
AFL SportsReady is a leading education provider in sport and business management courses and has supported more than 12,500 young Australians gain the skills they need to develop a successful career.
