Supporting Future
Female Athletes

PUMA launched the ‘She Moves Us’ campaign in 2021 to celebrate women in Sport, with PUMA Oceania creating a podcast series to share inspiring stories from our PUMA Oceania female athletes and sporting talent. This year, the Oceania team bounced off of these projects to set a new project in motion: PUMA Accelerator, a Women in Sports program. The program creates opportunities for next generation elite athletes to learn and connect with each other, and supports the kick-start of their future sporting careers – and beyond.

The seven-week virtual course was created with Women’s Agenda, the leading daily news publication for women, and was available to young female athletes across different sporting codes in Australia and New Zealand. Enrolment for the program ran for two weeks, resulting in over 180 applications of interest for the limited 42 spots available. To participate, athletes had to fill out an application form explaining why they would benefit from this course. Read below to find out more about the program!

The program was designed to give athletes the best-in-class industry advice and mentoring, as well as networking opportunities to provide them with the toolset they need to prepare for a career as an elite athlete. From September, these athletes heard from PUMA-partnered, key industry experts such as Vinh Giang [International Key Note Speaker], Michele Danno [Associate Editorial Director at We Are Social], Emma Murray [Founder of High Performance Mindfulness] and Katie Williams [Ex-Australian Beach Sprinter and Fitness Trainer]. 

The course covered a variety of topics including personal branding, performance psychology, wellness and resilience, media training, financial and legal know-how. Through the course, PUMA Oceania’s aim was to equip rising athletes with confidence and skills, and further support our ‘She Moves Us’ campaign to champion women in sport.

Check out some of the advice from the key speakers at the event.

Emma Murray on how to shift from your “B-game” to your “A-game: “When you get stuck focussed on everything out of your control, that is your sub-optimal performance. All of your strengths and attributes that you can control, that will lead to the best execution in performance.”

Katie Williams on building resilience: “Meditation is a secret weapon for athletes because it improves energy, concentration and focus. Also, discover interests and abilities for activities beyond your sport to maintain a healthy self-identity.”

Ed Barlow on performance psychology: “Train your mind and look at using and dropping your “anchors” to support you during high-stress situations. An anchor is personal – it’s something you look or feel for (or use another sense to acknowledge). Use an anchor to let the brain know we are safe, especially in stressful situations, like during a game. It could be feeling the grass, touching your boots – something you know will be available to you when you most need to perform.”

Vinh Giang on communication skills and amplifying your voice to create impact and influence: “Pause. When you get comfortable with pausing as you speak, you get rid of your non-words and filler words such as “um” and “ah”. Any time you feel like using a filler word, replace it with a pause. And don’t be afraid to hold this pause until you get slightly uncomfortable (~1-2 seconds).”

Virtual Graduation

A virtual graduation was held at the end of the seven weeks for the 42 athletes who took part. Not only did the graduation celebrate the participants, it also provided them with the opportunity to hear from and connect with PUMA-signed athletes! PUMA athletes Karin Burger (New Zealand netball player) and Liz Clay (Australian 100m hurdler) took part in a Q&A session to share their own personal sporting careers. They shared inspiring advice on overcoming adversities and injuries, success and failures and the importance of resilience.

PUMA Oceania is exploring the continuation of PUMA Accelerator in the next year and beyond. They want to build upon the amazing program they have already created to continue creating opportunities for women in sport. The next generations of elite female athletes will keep on coming, and so should their opportunities.