A woman just ran 253 miles through the Arizona desert, through the night, through the mountains, for 56 hours straight – and beat every single man in the race. Her name is Rachel Entrekin, and her mantra was simple: "Why not you?"

Women are redefining sport, growing in leaps and bounds over the past 5-10 years, and investment at the elite level has never been higher. So why are girls still quitting at 15?

This solo episode digs into one of the most important conversations in women's sport right now – the growing gap between elite investment and what is actually happening at grassroots, pathway, and semi-elite level. VFLW players earning as little as $25 a game, if lucky enough to be paid at all. A-League Women players on $26,000 watching male teammates earn five times that. Semi-elite athletes are working two jobs just to keep training and keeping food on the table. This is the pipeline that feeds professional women's sport – and it is being underfunded, undersupported, and overlooked.

Kylie Lynch breaks down why this matters not just for sport, but for society.

In this episode, we cover:

• Why elite investment without grassroots funding is a roof with no walls
• The real reason girls are dropping out at 14 and 15
• What semi-elite female athletes are actually earning right now
• Why female-friendly infrastructure, coaching, and registration costs are non-negotiable
• What needs to happen for the momentum at the top to trickle down with intention

Support the show

⭐ Did this episode inspire you?

• Please subscribe to 4TG, leave a five-star review, and share it with an athlete, parent or coach who needs to hear it
• Follow @4tg_podcast on all socials and visit us at 4tg.com.au 📱

☕ Want to support 4TG?

• Individuals - help us keep the movement going by donating or becoming a 4TG member at https://buymeacoffee.com/4tg_podcast
• For brand collaborations or sponsorships, email: kylie@4tg.com.au

🔗 Struggle with Pre-Game Nerves?

Here is our FREE 5 Min Pre-Game Reset Tool that will help you calm the noise, lock in your focus, and walk into game time with more self-belief, not panic, to perform your best.

🧠 1:1 Athlete Mentoring – Confidence and Champion’s Mindset

• Want 1:1 support to build real self-belief and perform with freedom? The 4TG 1:1 Athlete Mentoring is a 6-week program for driven female athletes who want to back themselves, lead with confidence and play to their strengths – on the field and off it.
• We will work on mindset, habits, resilience, leadership ...

Watch and subscribe to 4TG now on YouTube 📺

Run clubs are having a moment. And it's being driven by women!

Membership in Australian run clubs increased by 59% in 2024, and researchers found the top three reasons women keep showing up aren't pace or fitness goals. They're motivation, community and mood. Eliza Boyd figured that out before the data confirmed it.

Eliza is the founder of Chill Girl Run Club Geelong, a slow-paced, inclusive run club for women and the LGBTQI+ community that started with a TikTok she almost didn't post. Today it's a thriving community that meets every Saturday and has grown into brand partnerships, race entries and friendships that extend well beyond the course.

In this episode, we cover:

• Why Eliza started a run club in Geelong and the one video that launched it all
• The real reason women join run clubs (hint: it's rarely about running)
• How showing up consistently in sport builds mental strength and life confidence
• The challenges of growing a community while protecting its DNA
• Content creation and UGC as a flexible income stream for women in sport
• What holds women back from joining a run club and how to push past it
• What Eliza would tell her 16-year-old self about running and consistency

Chapters

00:00 – Welcome and Intro

00:55 – Rapid Fire: The 4TG x Snap Fitness Questions

02:30 – Eliza's sport background growing up 06:10 – How running became a consistent part of her life

09:45 – Why Eliza started Chill Girl Run Club Geelong

14:20 – The first run club meet and the TikTok that started it all

18:00 – What members are getting from the community beyond fitness

22:15 – Brand collaborations, DNA and keeping the run club authentic

26:40 – Life as a content creator and UGC work

31:05 – Documenting your journey and imposter syndrome

35:20 – What women need to hear about sport and community

39:00 – What would Eliza tell 16-year-old herself

Follow Eliza + Chill Girl Run Club

Find Eliza on TikTok and Instagram: @elizaanneboyd

Follow the run club: @chillgirlrunclub.geelong

Support the show

⭐ Did this episode inspire you?

• Please subscribe to 4TG, leave a five-star review, and share it with an athlete, parent or coach who needs to hear it
• Follow @4tg_podcast on all socials and visit us at 4tg.com.au 📱

☕ Want to support 4TG?

• Individuals - help us keep the movement going by donating or becoming a 4TG member at https://buymeacoffee.com/4tg_podcast
• For brand collaborations or sponsorships, email: kylie@4tg.com.au

🔗 Struggle with Pre-Game Nerves?

Here is our FREE 5 Min Pre-Game Reset Tool that will help you calm the noise, lock in your focus, and walk into game time with more self-belief, not panic, to perform your best.

🧠 1:1 Athlete Mentoring – Confidence and Champion’s Mindset

• Want 1:1 support to build real self-belief and perform with freedom? The 4TG 1:1 Athlete Mentoring is a 6-week program for driven female athletes who want to back themselves, lead with confidence and play to their strengths – on the field and off it.
• We will work on mindset, habits, resilience, leadership ...

Watch & subscribe to 4TG on YouTube 📺

Meredith Young has achondroplasia – the most common form of dwarfism. She grew up in a family that lived and breathed sport, represented Australia across basketball, swimming, athletics and badminton, and became the fastest short-statured woman in the world. Without a sprint coach. Just pure heart and Asics on.

In 2009, she captained Australia's first ever team at the World Dwarf Games in Belfast. Then in 2013 she competed again – knowing her spine was deteriorating – because sport was her sanity. Months later she woke up from spinal surgery unable to move her legs.

This conversation goes everywhere. The netball coach who told a young Meredith she was a "danger" to her teammates. Fundraising Bunnings barbecues to get fifteen athletes to Belfast. Beating her ex-husband in the badminton medal round. Three and a half months in hospital. And what it takes to find your way back to sport when your body has fundamentally changed.

Meredith is one of the most generous, honest guests we've had on It's For The Girls. This one will shift how you think about difference, resilience, and what it actually means to belong in sport.

In this episode we cover:

• Growing up in mainstream sport with achondroplasia and finding competitive advantage in difference
• The netball coach who told Meredith she was a "danger" – and the lifelong impact of a coach's words
• Building and captaining Australia's first World Dwarf Games team from a Bunnings barbecue budget
• Becoming the fastest short-statured woman in the world with zero formal sprint training
• Two major spinal surgeries, losing the ability to walk, and the long road back
• The psychology of recovery – when sport is your identity and your body takes it away
• Why being born different is not a limitation but a pathway to becoming a more whole person

Follow Meredith & Links

Instagram: @meredith_young

Donate towards the 2027 Gold Coast World Dwarf Games

Support the show

⭐ Did this episode inspire you?

• Please subscribe to 4TG, leave a five-star review, and share it with an athlete, parent or coach who needs to hear it
• Follow @4tg_podcast on all socials and visit us at 4tg.com.au 📱

☕ Want to support 4TG?

• Individuals - help us keep the movement going by donating or becoming a 4TG member at https://buymeacoffee.com/4tg_podcast
• For brand collaborations or sponsorships, email: kylie@4tg.com.au

🔗 Struggle with Pre-Game Nerves?

Here is our FREE 5 Min Pre-Game Reset Tool that will help you calm the noise, lock in your focus, and walk into game time with more self-belief, not panic, to perform your best.

🧠 1:1 Athlete Mentoring – Confidence and Champion’s Mindset

• Want 1:1 support to build real self-belief and perform with freedom? The 4TG 1:1 Athlete Mentoring is a 6-week program for driven female athletes who want to back themselves, lead with confidence and play to their strengths – on the field and off it.
• We will work on mindset, habits, resilience, leadership ...