As a 12-year-old Richmond VFLW player Akec Makur Chuot was grounded for playing soccer, and throughout Lauren Jackson's stellar basketball career, she faced prejudice - and still does.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
But both athletes rose above the discrimination and were in Wodonga on Thursday to tell other women: 'You can too'.
Richmond Football Club and VicHealth held a 'This Girl Can' luncheon with campaign ambassadors, Border local Candice Marzano and Makur Chuot, who came to Australia from South Sudan as a baby.
"The fear of judgement began at a really young age for me; all I wanted to do was play soccer," she said.
"But growing up I was told I couldn't, because I was a girl and I needed to be in the kitchen.
"I would be walking down the street with my soccer ball going to training, and my Aunty would say 'You're always going to soccer, you're never at home, sport is not going to get you anywhere'.
"In 2017 when I got drafted by the Fremantle Dockers, all of a sudden that conversation shifted, because they realised sport was going to get me somewhere.
"I was really lucky I had my mum, who was very supportive.
"When I see that (the This Girl Can video), it's telling me women are able to do anything."
Related:
Ms Marzano, who moved to the Border two years ago, was nominated to tell her story of personal transformation by a staff member at the Wodonga Sports and Leisure Centre.
"You're looking at a changed woman; 10 years ago I was 128 kilograms," she told the crowd of 150 people.
"My background comes from a lot of adversity that happened in my life.
"I would go on diets, lose all of this weight, and then it would come back.
"Two years ago we moved here and I was 93 kilograms ... I joined a ladies' gym, and the rest is history."
Ms Marzano said the fear of judgement had held her back, but she became more and more comfortable and found a strategy that worked for her.
"We live in a world today where we are constantly judged for how we look," she said.
"For those women out there who are struggling to put themselves out there ... find a tribe and people who will support you.
"It doesn't matter how fast you go or what you do, it's stepping out of your comfort zone."
VicHealth social marketing manager Melanie Fineberg said women experienced self-doubt but also unfair comments about duty to family commitments that "men don't experience and not as often".
"We know women aren't as active as they should be, and aren't as active as they want to be, because they're worried about being judged," she said.
"VicHealth launched the 'This Girl Can' Victoria campaign in March last year, and in its first year alone we've seen more than 285,000 women across Victoria get active and do something new as a result of the campaign.
"We know this message is striking a chord and it's great to bring it to Wodonga.
"It's amazing to have Lauren Jackson here - she's a fantastic example of women breaking down barriers and showing that gender stereotypes are utterly ridiculous.
"Women can be just as sporty, just as powerful, and just as active as men can be."
In other news:
Jackson said Makur Chuot's story from her childhood resonated and that she continued to push back on negativity.
"(It's) on a daily basis, on social media, 'You play basketball, girls can't play basketball', I hear it," she said.
"I'm like 'Well I was the best at the world at it, so, yeah I can, and I could probably beat you too'.
"Every women experiences it one way or another, and even out of sport I experience it.
"It's a fear of judgement for a lot of women who want to get active, and I think it's just taking that first step; getting out there and seeing how good you feel."
Jackson said AFLW had opened doors for women to compete at the same level as men.
"The women's sporting movement has definitely grown in leaps and bounds," she said.
"There's still a long way to go before there's any true gender equity in sport, but we're definitely paving the way."
