The Singleton Greyhounds U12, U14 and U16 girls were put through their paces at a free rugby league clinic put on by the Future Fierce Academy. The Academy is headed up by Newcastle Knights NRLW stars Yasmin Meakes and Olivia Higgins.
Yasmin and Olivia are both teachers and wanted to create something that involved both teaching with their love of rugby league.
“We also wanted to give back to the communities and make sure the young girls got exposure to rugby league, experiences and an aspiration to play in the NRLW one day,” Yasmin explained.
Yasmin said Future Fierce is all about building confidence through rugby league in a safe and encouraging environment. The programming is for all abilities and open to anyone who wants to either get better at rugby league or just be part of the Future Fierce community.
Thiess is Future Fierce’s biggest supporter and Kerrie Howells, Thiess Senior Advisor Social Performance, said they believe real impact starts at a grassroots level like Future Fierce.
“This partnership goes far beyond logos on jerseys. It’s about investing in people, opportunity and the future of women’s sport, beginning right here at a community level.
“Having Yasmin and Olivia working directly with these young players is incredibly powerful. When young girls can train with players they watch on the NRLW stage, it changes what they believe is possible,” Kerrie explained.
Yasmin wanted to ensure young girls could see there is a genuine pathway to professional rugby league in regional and rural areas too.
“You can’t be what you can’t see. When I was growing up I couldn’t see myself as a rugby league player because it didn’t exist; there was no pathway.
“We are so lucky to have Thiess’ backing. They genuinely want us to go out into the community and give us the funding to be able to do that. We ran a clinic with the Singleton Greyhounds free of charge thanks to that funding.”
Yasmin said the Future Fierce community has become more incredible than they could’ve imagined.
- JESS ROUSE
