Making the world a better place for girls.

Daughters & Dads Active & Empowered is a multi-award winning, evidence-based program that brings together fathers/father-figures & their primary school-aged daughters to promote physical activity, enhance sport skills, boost wellbeing, strengthen the father-daughter bond & advance gender equity.

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Provided by the University of Newcastle, Australia

Empowering the next generation of girls!

Empowering girls to overcome gender inequity and thrive through sports participation and positive father-figure involvement.

Our Programs

We have 5 program offerings that provide a safer and more supportive introduction to sport due to fathers being with their girls as their 1-on-1 coach. The programs accelerate girls’ physical competence and confidence, providing the foundation for key sport skills that enable pathways to youth sport initiatives. The program has been shown to increase engagement in multiple sports in the long-term.

Daughters & Dads Active & Empowered

Daughters & Dads Cricket

Daughters & Dads Football

Daughters & Dads Cycling

Daughters & Dads Basketball

Are you a sport organisation looking for a new sport-adapted version? Contact us today!

Our Partners

Strong partnerships are vital to the success of the program in changing the lives of girls for the better. We have worked with 30+ national and international partners including; national & state sporting bodies, local associations & clubs, universities, charities, private organisations & government departments.

Awards & Recognitions

We have won 20+ national and international awards for benefitting society, improving wellbeing and research excellence.

  • 2023 International Society for Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity (ISBNPA) Conference: Best Oral Presentation Dr Lee Ashton was awarded the winner of best oral presentation for his presentation titled Feasibility of ‘Daughters and Dads Cricket’: A program targeting fathers to improve their daughters’ engagement and skills in cricket.

    2022 WHO European Regional Obesity Report - Daughters and Dads Active and Empowered featured as an example of an inspirational and effective initiative to promote physical activity that has been implemented around the world.

    2021 International Green Gown Award "Highly Commended" in the category of ‘Benefiting Society’. - Supported by the United Nations environment program, the Green Gown Awards recognise exceptional sustainability initiatives being undertaken by the world's universities and colleges and put every learning institution at the heart of delivering the UN Global Goals. The 'Benefiting Society' category recognises the powerful and innovative ways education institutions are working to benefit the lives of individuals, communities and wider society.

    2020 Australasian Green Gown Award in the category of ‘Benefiting Society’ - Judges awarded the Daughters and Dads program as the winner in the category of 'Benefiting Society', describing the program as "a fantastic example of innovation that truly benefits society".

    2019 International Society for Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity (ISBNPA) Conference: Children and Families Specialist Interest Group: Best Paper Award Mid/Late Career Researcher award for the presentation: 'Better together: Investigating the holistic benefits of father-daughter co-physical activity with mediation analyses'.

  • 2018 Australian Sports Medicine Federation Fellows Award: ASICS Medal for overall best paper -ASICS Sports Medicine Australia (SMA) Conference for the presentation: 'Better together: Investigating the holistic benefits of father-daughter co-physical activity with mediation analysis'. This presentation was also awarded Best Paper in the Physical Activity and Health Promotion category of the SMA conference.

    2017 National Association for Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (NAPCAN) Play Your Part Award - Recognising outstanding initiatives that promote the safety and wellbeing of children and young people across the country, this award was presented in Canberra by His Excellency Sir Peter Cosgrove - Governor-General of Australia, in August 2017.

    2015 Best Paper – Physical Activity and Health Promotion' at the National ASICS Sports Medicine Australia Conference - For the presentation 'Engaging dads to increase physical activity and well-being in girls: The DADEE (Dads And Daughters Exercising and Empowered) Randomised Controlled Trial'.

  • 2021 HMRI Research Team Award - This award recognises an outstanding team of researchers who have collectively demonstrated excellence in health and medical research for the wellbeing of our communities.

    2021 University of Newcastle, Work Integrated Learning Staff Member of the Year Award - Prof. Philip Morgan won the 2021 Work Integrated Learning Staff Member of the Year award for EDUC4017 'The Daughters and Dads program: optimising children's physical activity and well-being'. This award celebrates the professional learning experiences and partnerships that prepare students for success and recognises outstanding achievement in the delivery of meaningful and consequential Work Integrated Learning experiences for students.

    2020 University of Newcastle, Faculty of Education & Arts Excellence Award for Collaboration and Engagement

Join 1000’s of Daughters and Dads on the journey to becoming more active & empowered!

Testimonials

"Put simply, for me it was life changing. Emphasising the importance of sport skills and activity levels in girls and the vital role a Dad plays in that. We will forever be grateful for the many lessons learnt and I will be a better parent as a result. A fantastic program that every father should do.”

— Program Dad

“I enjoyed learning new skills but I also liked that it taught us to have self esteem. For me the best part was spending time with my dad because he works a lot and we do not see him lots so it was really nice to be able to have time put aside to spend with him.”

— Program Daughter