Photo: SEDA students with speakers at the inaugural International Women’s Day Breakfast. (Speakers L-R: Lorraine Landon, Sydney Kings; Brittany Vearing, Netball NSW; Hannah Lidser, Sydney FC; Aunty Glendra Stubbs, NCIE; Carly Walsh, SEDA Classroom Teacher and Australian Touch Football star)

International Women’s Day came early to NCIE with SEDA College hosting their inaugural IWD breakfast on Tuesday 5 March.

Teacher and Australian Touch Football star Carly Walsh with SEDA students.

Australia’s 2019 International Women’s Day theme is “More Powerful Together”, and this was on full display among the speakers, students and teachers at the event.

SEDA College is an independent, co-educational Year 11 to Year 12 school which provides HSC programs in a hands-on, industry based environment. Based at the NCIE, their college programs focus heavily on sport – which was the theme of the breakfast.

Lorraine Landon, Hannah Lidser and Brittany Vearing with some of SEDA’s sports stars.

A panel of inspirational women speakers from Netball, Basketball, Soccer and Touch Footy shared their personal stories and advice on how to move forward in sport. In short: it’s not a glamorous but incredibly rewarding path to take, involving long, hard days, nights and weekends and – at the moment – the pay’s not great!

But the highs of health, skills, teamwork and representative level sport are the payoff – as is getting to inspire and empower young women to build on their strength and skills to strive for high level sports careers.

SEDA Principal, Kate O’Donnell – once the sole woman motorcycle racer in Western Australia – said this was the first IWD event SEDA had hosted.

SEDA Principal Kate O’Donnell talking to students at the SEDA International Women’s Day Breakfast

“We’re now at 30% girls here at SEDA NSW and we wanted to put on an event this year for IWD to show the girls support and encouragement. “They are not only a minority at school but also a minority in sport and we are all working to change that. “All the speakers here today highlighted the opportunities and career pathways for our girls to inspire and empower them to keep going with sport.”

The NCIE were proud to help facilitate an event that gave strong, insightful women the opportunity to pass on their stories to next generation of female leaders.