Ric Charlesworth is a strong advocate for women in sport.

“Despite the phenomenal success of Australia’s female sports champions on the world stage, women in sport are paid a token by their sports federations compared to their male counterparts and they have to make enormous personal sacrifices to represent their clubs and country,” Charlesworth said.

“They also get a tiny slice of the media coverage and sponsorship pool compared to the men and this needs to change as a matter of priority to give female role models a greater profile that will inspire more women and girls to be active.“

Ric Charlesworth has excelled both on and off the sporting field. He played hockey at five Olympics and coached the men’s hockey teams to an Olympic bronze medal and two World Cup golds. He coached the women’s hockey team, the Hockeyroos to two Olympic gold medals, two World Hockey Cups as well as a Commonwealth Games gold medal.

He’s also been a member of Cricket New Zealand’s high-performance staff and worked as a consultant for the West Australian AFL team the Fremantle Dockers.  In his busy non-sporting life, Charlesworth is also a medical general practitioner and was a former Federal Member of Parliament.