This week's hockey #GlobalProject looks at an innovative programme running in Cairns, Australia, targeting indigenous communities.
For the girls and young women living in such communities in the northern outreaches of Australia, sport was something only the boys did. They were therefore missing out on valuable life lessons offered by sport – lessons in team work, problem-solving, winning, losing, competing and making life-long friends.
A new programme however is changing all that. Aspire to be Deadly is a project initiated and run by Cairns Hockey that offers mentoring and opportunities to indigenous populations, particularly in remote regions such as Torres Strait Islands, Cairns and Cape York as well as communities in the Gulf of Carpentaria. The programme aims to link mainstream hockey through a development programme that is educational as well as sporting.
In recognition of its work, Cairns Hockey recently learnt that it has been shortlisted for the prestigious international Beyond Sports Awards, which will be presented to the winners in London, England in October.
Cairns Hockey is one of four nominated bodies for the Sporting Federation or Governing Body of the Year Award. The others in the frame are: European Club Association with it’s 90 Minutes for a Hope programme; Major League Baseball, a USA and Canada based group; and National Rugby League’s (Australia) School to Work Program.
The Beyond Sports Awards have attracted entries from more than 160 countries since 2009, when they began awarding enterprises that used sport for positive change.
To demonstrate just how much impact the Aspire to be Deadly programme is already having, this is an extract from the Cairns Hockey website explaining why it has initiated an under-11 Festival of Sport in the northern town of Karumba.
“The Gulf Savannah Region has a special significance to Cairns Hockey Development Programs. This region was where Cairns Hockey in partnership with RIHP Hockey was first invited to develop its programs and invited by the community to assist in the development of hockey across the region. No-one in the region was aware or had any passion for female sport, in particular hockey. There were no facilities, no equipment, no awareness, no resources and certainly no hockey programs and no reason to think a competition would ever be established.
“As the hockey program involved itself and engaged with the community, the realisation and recognition that growth and advancement of the region as a whole was dictated to by nature’s balance. Too much rain – devastating floods, too little rain, devastating droughts, the right balance of rain and the region thrives.
“Indigenous culture is strong and the respect and recognition shown through culture and traditions reinforce the importance of balance in all aspects of life in the region. It was a natural progression that the development of hockey as a community support program needed to recognise and understand the importance of this state of balance.”
Even before Aspire to be Deadly was founded, hockey had been delivered by Cairns Hockey for more than 10 years and the association and the community has found a balance that works.
This year, 13 teams from schools in the region, plus two teams from Cairns, contested a three-day competition played on two grass pitches marked between the tee and green of the first hole at Karumba Golf Club.
The success of the venture was highlighted by the Cairn’s Hockey facebook page: “It’s official, it’s the biggest Karumba Festival of Sport ever with 15 teams including the Muddies and Barras (from Cairns). Two fields across the first fairway from tee to green, tents for all the school teams, hats, sunscreen and water to be sun safe and hydrated. It's healthy competition and the smiles stretch for miles. Cultures converge and understanding grows, families, parents, supporters are all here to help and celebrate the positive messages. Everyone involved should be proud.”
This is yet another example of a local organisation embracing the values of the International Hockey Federation's (FIH) 10-year Hockey Revolution strategy, in particular the fourth Big Goal - to generate millions more followers around the world, and Major Initiative five which is focused on high performing sport.
To find out more about this project, visit the Cairns hockey Facebook page.
For more information about hockey in Australia, contact Hockey Australia.
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