Roosters’ $50,000 grant to back future Matilda

An NRL powerhouse club is leading the way to support women in sport, with an inaugural $50,000 scholarship for a ‘future Matilda’.

Roosters CEO Joe Kelly, chairman Nick Politis, Sydney FC player Jada Whyman and Suncorp chair Christine McLouglin at the scholarship annoucement. Picture: Jane Dempster

Future Matildas soccer player Jada Whyman has become the first recipient of the Sydney Roosters and Easts Group Minerva Scholarship.

The inaugural scholarship is designed to support a sportswoman, of any discipline, through their study over five years and is valued at $50,000.

Whyman, 21, who is a goalkeeper for Sydney FC, said the Roosters-backed and funded scholarship would give her the freedom to pursue both her soccer career and study.

“I am just so grateful for the opportunity that the Minerva Network and Sydney Roosters have given me, the fact that they have worked together to take away a financial barrier — which so many athletes like myself face — and have now given me the chance to focus on my football and studies,” Whyman said. “It’s an amazing opportunity … I am just over the moon.”

Whyman says she is keen to pursue a Bachelor of Commerce degree at university while she focuses on getting back on the field after a spate of knee injuries.

Whyman has been working as an ambassador for John Moriarty Football, an organisation dedicated to helping young Indigenous players achieve success in the sport and also volunteers as a youth worker for Glebe Youth Service.

“Earning that money from the scholarship, I still feel I need to give back in a way, so I will continue my commitment there,” she said.

She has also been working as an outreach worker for Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander young people for mental health non-profit organisation Headspace.

The Sydney Roosters and Easts Group have committed $10,000 per annum for five years, starting in February 2021 to coincide with the commencement of the University and TAFE calendar year

Established in 2017, the Minerva Network was established by a group of leading Australian business women to mentor female athletes on their transition to life after sport. It aims to empower women on and off the field.

Australian Rowing World Championship medallist Georgie Rowe was also a recipient of a Minerva Network scholarship. Rowe, 28, from Sydney‘s Northern Beaches, has been awarded the Torrens University Minerva Scholarship.

Georgie is keen to pursue a Master in Business Administration and Master of Public Health at Torrens University building on her background in nursing and work that she has been doing with the Bite Back program educating high school students about mental health.

Minerva chair Christine McLoughlin, who is currently the chair of one of Australia’s biggest insurers Suncorp, says the program came about as a result of an approach from the Sydney Roosters who “articulated a clear ambition for supporting leading sportswomen beyond the field”.

“We know from working with elite women athletes over the past four years at the Minerva Network that they juggle training, competing, part-time work to pay the bills, and their studies,” McLoughlin said. “Sadly, when the pressure is on and they need to cover some of the bills, too often those studies are sacrificed. Generous scholarships such as these enable athletes like Jada and Georgie to compete, train and study.”

Roosters CEO Joe Kelly congratulated Whyman, one of Australia’s rising stars of professional sport, on being awarded the scholarship at a lunch at the SCG on Monday.

“The Minerva Network impressively supports elite and professional sportswomen to maximise their opportunities both on and off the field and our values are deeply aligned to this purpose,” Kelly said.

“As an NRL Club we have a strong focus on developing rugby league pathways for girls and women. We also acknowledge the enormous efforts of all women in elite and professional sport and therefore this scholarship was available to all sporting disciplines.”