#itsmymove: Sport Taranaki take part in national campaign aimed to help women keep active

Golf participation officer Lucinda Searle runs a series of sessions for teenage girls around the region.

Sport Taranaki is taking part in a national campaign aimed at empowering and encouraging women to be active.

The regional sports trust is supporting Sport NZ with the #itsmymove campaign. Sport Taranaki’s active recreation advisor Jasmin Carr says it’s been identified that in sport and recreation, women have different needs than men.

“This campaign is about building awareness and advocating for wāhine so they feel empowered to be active. We’re pretty lucky in Taranaki to have a bunch of organisations and clubs that value this campaign and go out of their way to offer females safe and comfortable environments where they can be active.”

One of those organisations is Taranaki Golf, with golf participation officer Lucinda Searle running a number of sessions for teenage girls to have a go at the sport.

Lucinda says the aim of the sessions is to get together, socialise, and be active in nature.

“The sessions give teenage girls the chance to give golf a go in a relaxed setting. We know it can be nerve-wracking trying a new sport but these sessions are all about fun, being social and having a try. We play around four to six holes a session.”

Thanks to funding from Sport Taranaki through the Tu Manawa Fund, Lucinda has 20 sets of golf clubs for the sessions.

“These are lighter graphite clubs that are perfect for the sessions we run. Our sessions are designed to fit in with part-time jobs and school, to eliminate the barriers from these teenage girls coming to have some fun and swing a golf club.”

There is also something for older wāhine, with Lucinda running a She Loves Golf programme for women to come along with their friends and have a go at golf.

“It’s a low-pressure and all-inclusive environment. We have members from 20 right up to 70 years old. We just ask them to turn up in activewear and the golf clubs are provided.”

As part of the campaign, there are also free online videos for people to get moving in the comfort of their own homes.

These can be found at https://www.itsmymove.org.nz/for-girls. For more information on the golf sessions for teenage girls and women, email Lucinda at futures@taranakigolf.co.nz.