In partnership with AFL Goulburn Murray, Valley Sport, Greater Shepparton City Council and Strathbogie Shire local football netball clubs are taking up the opportunity to be part of the innovative Outside The Locker Room mentoring program.
The program was hugely successful last season with a Bendigo Health partnership facilitating the program in all Goulburn Murray clubs in the Shire of Campaspe and a couple of pilot programs in Greater Shepparton City Council. In all, 2,297 participants attended the 56 sessions involving 16 football netball clubs in 2015.
Outside The Locker Room (OTLR) is a series of workshops and interactions focused on community responsibility, responsible decision making and personal branding. With former AFL players Glenn Manton, and Jake Edwards the program seeks to equip adolescent boys and girls and young adults, along with their parents, families and communities, with the information and resources to better enable them to tackle the increasing number of social and mental health issues in a productive and not destructive way.
AFL Goulburn Murray Region General Manager Martin Gleeson is excited at bringing the program back to the region.
"We have been working with the OTLR team for over 12 months now and we were really impressed with the response from participants and clubs last year" he said.
"The feedback from footballers and netballers involved last year was extremely positive and we are also aware of a number of youth involved in the program who have gone on to receive support and assistance."
"The program was able to create, not only an education environment, but also one that made it comfortable for people to share their stories and to seek help if needed."
"A key strategic priority of the AFL Goulburn Murray Commission’s Strategic Plan is Community and through this priority a Health Services Strategy was released at the end of 2014."
"This strategy focuses on the provision of services and initiatives recognising the integral place that football netball clubs hold in the community."
"With Jake Edwards confirmed as the mentor for each club and the support of other ex-AFL players, behavioural experts and mental health experts each participant in the program will have a great opportunity to better understand themselves and make appropriate life decisions."
"Greater Shepparton City Council, Strathbogie Shire and Valley Sport have been fantastic in this initiative and without their support we would not be able to provide this opportunity to additional clubs within the Goulburn Murray."
Jake Edwards, a Director of Outside the Locker Room, is really looking forward to working with clubs to make a difference.
"OTLR has been developed to ensure that our youth involved in community sport are getting the mentoring, education and support they require to develop into strong young men and women" he said.
"We are not interested in how many goals they kick or how many interceptions they complete; we care about their well-being and building relationships that encourage conversation."
Information sessions in the selected clubs will be held over the next couple of weeks with the first of the workshops commencing after that. The Goulburn Murray clubs who will be involved in the program include:
Greater Shepparton City Council – Mooroopna, Shepparton, Shepparton Swans, Shepparton United, Tatura
Strathbogie Shire – Violet Town
Last Modified on 30/09/2016 11:33