Equestrians Recognised as Women Leaders in Sport

Recently Sport Australia announced the recipients of the Women Leaders in Sport Leadership Workshop places. There were a total of nine women involved in Equestrian who were named on the 2021 list.

Congratulations to Amber Evans (Equestrian, Pony Club), Anne-Marie Cruickshank (Equestrian), Ashley Copping (Equestrian), Christine Edgoose (Equestrian), Danila Lochrin (Equestrian), Melinda Robinson, (Equestrian), Olivia Ruzsicska (Equestrian), Rachel Ratini, (Equestrian, Pony Club), Sallyann Neve (Equestrian, Pony Club) and Samantha Duffy (Equestrian).

We caught up with Ashley Copping to find out how she got involved. Ashley describes what inspired her to apply and shares her advice for other women considering applying for such grants.

Having grown up around cross country courses with her dad, Wayne Copping, Ashley says it was inevitable that she would become a TD or somehow be involved in the sport. 

"I was shown the Women Leaders in Sport Leadership Workshop page on an Eventing officials Facebook group and thought it was interesting. I've only just become the Event Director for Naracoorte Horse Trials in 2020 and thought this programme might help me to develop the skills needed to be more effective in the role and in the Equestrian community."

Ashley continues, "I was very lucky to get a letter of support from him [dad] as the Chairman of Naracoorte Horse Trials."

With a masters in International Trade and Development, after a degree in Economics and Marketing, Ashley can confirm she really enjoys learning new things, expanding her knowledge and working on personal development.

Ashley is encouraging of anyone who may be considering applying in the future.

"There are so many grants and opportunities out there for people, and I would have never known about this one without it being shared in our group, so I hope more people will share these opportunities in the future. And my advice is just apply, you never know what might happen."

Click here to find out more about the 2021 Women Leaders in Sport Individual Workshop