{"id":42619,"date":"2025-08-12T09:16:58","date_gmt":"2025-08-11T23:16:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/vic\/?p=42619"},"modified":"2025-08-12T09:16:58","modified_gmt":"2025-08-11T23:16:58","slug":"young-changemaker-wins-parliament-prize-for-advocacy-in-inclusive-tennis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/vic\/news\/2025\/08\/12\/young-changemaker-wins-parliament-prize-for-advocacy-in-inclusive-tennis","title":{"rendered":"Young Changemaker Wins Parliament Prize for Advocacy in Inclusive Tennis"},"content":{"rendered":"

We\u2019re thrilled to share some exciting news: Kala Petronijevic<\/strong>, a student at Cheltenham Secondary College, has been awarded third prize<\/strong> in the 2025 Parliament Prize competition for her compelling video calling for greater accessibility in blind and low vision (BLV) tennis.<\/p>\n

The annual Parliament Prize, which asks students \u201cWhat would you say to Parliament if you were an MP?\u201d<\/em>, received a record-breaking 1,463 entries from 250 schools<\/strong> across Victoria this year. Kala\u2019s thoughtful and impassioned entry stood out, earning her a spot among the top young voices advocating for meaningful change.<\/p>\n

In her submission, Kala shed light on the challenges that children who are blind or have low vision face when trying to participate in sport. \u201cWhile children with full sight can just go around the corner and access their tennis club, we have to drive to the city,\u201d<\/em> she explained. This highlights the additional logistical and social barriers many vision-impaired children experience, these are the barriers that can often lead to exclusion.<\/p>\n

Kala\u2019s message to Parliament was clear: it’s time to break down those barriers and ensure more tennis clubs are inclusive of BLV players. \u201cFor the 1,493 children out there with blindness or low vision, can we please have more tennis centres open their mind to blind tennis?\u201d<\/em> she asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll you need is a couple of different balls and for your coaches to be trained. It\u2019s that simple really,\u201d<\/em> Kala said. She went on to highlight the wider benefits of tennis beyond sport, describing it as a vital tool for improving physical health<\/strong>, mental wellbeing<\/strong>, and social connection<\/strong> for young people of all abilities.<\/p>\n

As part of her recognition, Kala has been invited to visit the office of MP Nick Staikos<\/strong>\u00a0for a one-on-one conversation about her entry and her hopes for a more inclusive future in community sport.<\/p>\n

Kala\u2019s achievement is not just a personal milestone, it\u2019s a moment of advocacy that we hope will open more eyes, minds, and tennis clubs to the importance of accessibility in sport.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s help amplify her message:\u00a0\u201cLet\u2019s make this truly accessible.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Click here<\/a> to watch Kala’s video.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kala Petronijevic has been awarded third prize in the 2025 Parliament Prize competition for her compelling video calling for greater accessibility in blind and low vision tennis.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6423,"featured_media":42622,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[98,1],"tags":[60,104],"class_list":["post-42619","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community","category-news","tag-blind-low-vision","tag-inclusion-and-diversity"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/vic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42619","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/vic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/vic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/vic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6423"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/vic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42619"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/vic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42619\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/vic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42622"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/vic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42619"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/vic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42619"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/vic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42619"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}