SCG Trust & Populous driving thought leadership and design innovation for women in sport and entertainment

The SCG Trust and global design firm Populous teamed-up in May to host The Rise of Womens’ Sport, bringing together industry thought-leaders as well as athletes and administrators from across the codes. The SCG precinct provided a focus and case study for the 50 attendees to consider the future needs of female participants, officials, media, and administrators.

Jamie Barkley, Chief Executive Officer of the SCG, believes the forum provided a unique opportunity to further explore and develop design outcomes for the SCG Master Plan.

“Women’s sport is growing rapidly on and off the field. There are more females watching and playing our major codes than ever before and with that comes exciting growth opportunities for venues, fans and broadcasters,” Barkley said.

“What does the SCG Trust think the future holds? We want to see women’s sport as a standalone entity. It’s about planning ahead to make sure female athletes and fans are no longer a ‘curtain-raiser’ to the men – a big part of this starts with the stadium experience.

“The Trust has partnered with Populous, a global leader in event architecture, to build on the work that has already been done and explore ways that we capitalise on the rise of women’s sport at Moore Park. We are intent on catering for this changing landscape, exploring possibilities, asking questions previously unasked and innovating new solutions,” Barkley said.

In 2016 Populous established Women in Sport & Entertainment Design (WISE Design), an in-house think-tank and thought leadership group committed to understanding these growing requirements.

Populous Associate Principal and leader of WISE Design in the Australia-Pacific region, Belinda Goh believes the forum offers a significant opportunity to recalibrate and clarify the design of sporting venues and the way in which they work for women and girls.

“This forum represents a pivotal change in how we think about sport in Australia. Women are a valuable part of the sports economy, but there still needs to be a much greater investment in understanding their specific needs as fans, participants, officials and administrators. We’re really pleased to have the opportunity to work with the Trust and the participants to start to gather market based evidence that supports changes to design outcomes for women in sports and entertainment,” Goh said.

The attendees included the NSW Minister for Sport, the Hon. Stuart Ayers MP, SCG Trustee Katie Page and senior executives, athletes and members of the sports media:

ABC
AFL
Australian Rugby
Australian Womens Rugby
Football Federation Australia
Greater Western Sydney Giants
News Limited
NRL
NSW Government
Sydney 6ers
Sydney FC
Sydney Roosters
Sydney Swans

Populous will continue to work with the SCG Trust and many other sports and entertainment venues and rights holders to gain and assess information that will aid the wiser design of facilities and events for women and girls.

About The Sydney Cricket and Sports Ground Trust

The SCG Trust is responsible for managing two of Australia’s most celebrated sporting venues, the Sydney Cricket Ground and Allianz Stadium. In addition to the two grounds, there is a central sports precinct of international standing that includes the headquarters of several major sporting franchises and codes, as well as a fitness centre, club facilities and sports museum.

The Sydney Cricket Ground recently received to global accolades at the Stadium Business Awards in Barcelona including, Sports Event of the Year for the 2014 Major League Baseball Opening Series between the Arizona Diamondbacks and the LA Dodgers, and Project of the Year for the MA Noble, Don Bradman and Dally Messenger stand redevelopment. Visit www.scgt.nsw.gov.au for further detail or follow our Twitter accounts @scg and @AllianzStadium.