Australians are renowned for punching above their weight on the sports field.

Now there’s further evidence that they are kicking goals off the pitch too, with four Australians or Australia-based programs nominated for the BBC-backed Green Sports Awards.

Race walker Rhydian Cowley was named world athlete of the year, while surfer Adrian “Ace” Buchan was named as evergreen athlete of the year.

“With climate change, we are not just going to solve it with one individual, it is really a team sport, so let’s keep working together,” Paris 2024 bronze medallist Cowley told the BBC, describing the award as “a really big honour”. 

“It means a great deal to be recognised away from the sporting field … I am super excited to keep driving positive change.”

Meanwhile, the Australian Professional Footballers Association (PFA) and Pat Cummins’s Cricket for Climate were nominated for the elite organisation and grassroots organisation of the year awards, respectively.

“To be honest it’s incredible,” Green Games ambassador and ex-Matilda Emma Checker told ABC Sport.

“It’s something that I think we are all really proud of because it puts us in the spotlight and it spreads the word.”

So what are these Australian organisations doing — and why is this recognition important?

‘You can start small’

The Green Sports Awards scoured the globe for the organisations that are making the biggest difference in this space.

In some cases, those are some of sport’s most recognisable brands and organisations: Nominated for the elite organisation of the year award were global organisations World Rugby, Extreme E, World Athletics and Paris 2024.

“When I saw who we were up against, I was like, are we in the right category?” Checker told ABC Sport.

However, after the initial surprise wore off, the 28-year-old rightly pointed out that the only thing that matters is the size of the idea.

“For it [Green Games] to be recognised among such other big entities is huge — we’re talking a handful of players and the player union,” Checker said.

“That is so exciting because it reminds us all that we’re not talking about needing these big groups and entire countries to collaborate to get this impact, it can be small.

“You can start small, you don’t need a lot to be able to create impact because what small numbers do is create this flow-on effect and then you collect people as you go.

“Everyone loves making an impact. It’s human nature to care about the legacy you leave and the mark you make. 

“So we just have to start somewhere.”

The Green Games starts the conversation

The PFA’s Green Games made its bow in the 2023/24 season, with two matches, one each in the A-League Men and Women competitions, designated as fixtures where clubs can attempt to reduce the impact of football on the environment.

The key pillars were to focus on reducing carbon pollution, offset unavoidable emissions and introduce new sustainable practices at clubs.

Canberra United vs Wellington Phoenix on March 24 and Brisbane Roar vs Newcastle Jets on April 13 were the two games and coincided with the release of the PFA’s Stoppage Time report, which examined football’s impact on climate in Australia and New Zealand.

There are plans to expand the program for this upcoming A-Leagues season.

“Did we have the perfect first year of Green Games? No. But did we create an impact and start conversation and drive change? Yes,” Checker said.

“I think we often sometimes wait until everything’s in perfect order to trigger this change, but there’s no perfect time, you just have to have a crack.”

Emma Ilijoski, a former Canberra player who has since moved to Scottish side Heart of Midlothian in Edinburgh, said it was “humbling” that the Green Games were nominated.

“The fact we have been able to achieve this after our first year of Green Games and introducing the idea to the league is extremely promising,” Ilijoski said.

“It is exciting to think we still have so much left to achieve, but it is equally as nice to look back on what we have been able to do in such a short space of time. 

“Being able to see our name alongside such big organisations shows that the sky is the limit and it is motivating to see what else we can achieve in the future.”

That future is to look at the bigger picture, expanding the program to other leagues and regions.

“Our combined goals and dreams in the football world go beyond Australia, and as the global game it is exciting that Australian football can play our role in education and raising awareness,” Ilijoski said.

“After our Green Games and achieving our first target, we already thought and discussed, ‘What’s next?’. 

“It is a great learning environment, one that is also very ambitious. I have learnt a lot through this process and the PFA’s guidance has shown what is possible when empowering athletes to use their voice.”

‘I care about the planet’

For both Emmas, the use of their platform as athletes and role models in their communities is hugely important.

“I have been passionate about the environment and climate change for a long time,” Ilijoski said.

She cited being a part of a Cricket for Climate Summit as being a key moment when she felt like she could make a difference.

“Being in that room, with other athletes, stakeholders, climate scientists and advocates, made me feel so positive about a topic that stereotypically feels negative and scary,” she said.

“At the end of the workshops, there was an opportunity to pledge what your impact would be to the entire cohort, and I pledged to make a tangible impact in Australian football. 

“I feel proud to have been able to play a part in doing so, and speaking the aspirations into existence made it feel possible, especially being surrounded by such inspiring people. I walked into that summit not knowing what was possible, but left with so much clarity and promise in what could be achieved in Australian sport and climate change awareness.”

Checker agreed, saying the goals of Green Games matched her own.

“I think, for me, it’s an easy role because it’s something that actually matters to me on a personal level,” she said.

“It’s like, well, what matters to me? For me, it’s that I care about the planet, I care about climate impact. 

“OK, so what can I do with that? And for me, it was about how can I use my voice and my story and my views on what we can do to generate change to actually impact the greater good.”

‘They’re not yet connecting the dots’

The importance of athletes using their platform cannot be understated — even if not everyone agrees with their favourite players speaking up.

Cricket for Climate chief executive Joanne Bowen told ABC Sport a principle objective of the organisation was to “influence and inspire” cricket’s 2.4 billion supporters and make them more aware of climate change.

“They’re not making the connection between isolated events or what they’re seeing, whether it’s flooded cricket grounds or, in this country, not being able to train during the day because it’s too hot, they’re not yet connecting the dots between that and climate change,” Bowen said.

“So that’s also the role that we’re playing, to help them understand that.

“We know that the general public isn’t listening to politicians and they’re not listening to scientists, but they absolutely will listen to their favourite sports person and cricket is incredibly trusted in this space.”

Australia’s Test captain Pat Cummins set up Cricket for Climate in 2021.

The movement’s website makes its aim clear — the phrase “Cricket forever” is emblazoned across the webpage.

Far from being a statement on the fragile life expectancy of Test matches, this is a broader reflection on whether cricket will be able to withstand the impact of global warming.

A lot of this comes down to the lived experiences of cricketers over the past few years.

“Pat [Cummins] has his own experiences of this and this is why he started Cricket for Climate,” Bowen said. 

“He’s always talking about the day in Pakistan when he lost six kilos in a day. 

“Players are taking anti-nausea drugs just to get out and play.

“Air quality is a huge factor … I was chatting with Ashton Turner and his experience of games in Delhi, he said it was absolutely unbearable. Ashton Agar the same, he described the burning in his chest and black snot coming out of his nose [after playing some games].

“Rach Haynes, during the bushfires to bring it a bit closer to home, said there was ash just raining down on her, at Drummoyne Oval.

“These are all real, lived experiences and we’re just supporting the players to really understand that it is climate related.”

Grassroots clubs in the firing line

While much of the focus is on conditions for professional athletes, Cricket for Climate says the grassroots clubs are as much in the firing line, with impacts that could continue to be felt long into the future.

“We’re in a cost-of-living crisis and some folks are missing out on part or almost all of the season because, in particular this year, it’s been very wet,” Bowen said. 

“So you’re putting in these cricket fees for your kids and you’re not getting anything back for that, you’re staying inside, and that’s not good for sport. That’s not good for kids. That’s not good for community.

“I wonder when the fans will start kind of going ‘well, you know, I don’t really want to go and pay all this money and go and see a draw and sit in the rain or sit in the heat, so I’ll just sit and watch it at home’. That kind of thing worries me as well.

“I have talked to grassroots club presidents and they’re concerned about ongoing participation because of the heat or because of rained-off seasons.”

Cricket for Climate has taken it upon itself to not just instigate a discussion among cricket supporters, but create a tangible object for grassroots clubs to initiate change.

“Pat [Cummins] started this in a very practical way by putting solar panels on his local grade club in Penrith,” Bowen said.

“We found out that this starts the conversation, working with those local community cricket clubs to try and support them with solar panels and batteries as a kind of boost for them then to get funding for LED lighting.

“In some instances we’re pushing all we can to make sure that these solutions aren’t just piecemeal, so not just solar but also supporting Australia’s net zero transition and becoming like localised green power stations, putting green energy back into the grid. 

“Some of our projects will be generating green energy off the infrastructure of sports and making that available to community members as well.”