IT was a day of inspiration and motivation for indigenous youths at Mount Gambier High School on Friday as they met some of their sporting idols from the Port Adelaide Football Club.
Undertaking a training session with Dom Barry and Joel Garner, the South Australian Aboriginal Sports Training Academy (SAASTA) students delved into their cultural heritage while also learning some football tips and tricks.
Organised in the lead-up to the Power Cup – which will see SAASTA teams from across the state compete in Adelaide – the training session gave students a better understanding of where their future can take them.
“It was really cool to meet the players, it is good to have role models like them,” student Denzel Wilson said.
“We usually learn about our culture from family, friends and elders in the community, but it was good to talk to the players about it too.”
Thrilled to be a part of the experience, newly recruited Port Adelaide player Joel Garner said programs such as SAASTA were beneficial to young indigenous people.
“Part of the program is working with the students with footy, but we also help them through their schooling and look for avenues they can take when they graduate,” he said.
“For so many of these students the statistics are not too good at school, but SAASTA provides an 85pc strike rate of kids passing and getting that further education.
“It’s been running for 11 years now, it started with six schools and now has 66 so it is obviously growing and becoming popular.”
Previously working with indigenous youth in his home community of Fregon, Dom Barry said he was grateful for the opportunity to help motivate the students.
“I worked as a school attendance officer in Fregon helping kids to come to school and tutoring them, it was rewarding and life changing for me,” he said.
“I would not be in this position if I had not of worked there.
“It is great Joel and I were able to come down to Mount Gambier and become leaders and role models for the students so they can see there is a light at the end of the tunnel and that we are here to support them as much as we can.”
Guiding the students through their SAASTA journey, Grant High School Aboriginal educator and SAASTA coordinator Sarah McCarthy said the weekly sessions at the school were strengthening young people’s understanding of culture in general as well as their own personal cultural identity.
“That strength to culture is going to be what develops them as leaders in the community, it is what will continue to support the hard work of elders past and present in moving forward as a united Australia and ensuring we have informed life long learners as active citizens,” she said.
“All of the studies we are doing are preparing us for the Power Cup where we will demonstrate what we have learnt about Aboriginal histories and Aboriginal perspectives of history.
“However, for us the most important outcome is establishing a strong foundation for future students to engage with as part of the SAASTA program.”
