The Cats kicked off their 2018 Community Camp with an open training in Colac which provided an opportunity for locals to see the team in action before they return to Colac on the 11th March for the JLT match against Essendon.
Following the open training, the Cats were welcomed to Colac with a civic reception by Mayor Joe McCracken leading in to a media launch with Kevin Sheedy, Tom Hawkins & representatives from Powercor to launch the 2018 Powercor Country Festival.
Community Camp was made up of two groups; Colac and the Bellarine Peninsula. Below is a summary of the two days spent in the areas. We thank the Colac and Bellarine regions for having us over the last couple of days!
Colac:
28 players attended junior club trainings at 7 different clubs around the Colac area including; Alvie, Birregurra, South Colac and Irrewarra Beeac. The junior players were treated to drills and skills sessions by the players before providing insight in to the life of an AFL player through questions asked by the junior clubs.
VFLW coach Paul Hood, Assistant Coach Matthew Knights and Elite Performance and Development Manager, Mick Poulton provided the opportunity for local coaches to gain insight into elite coaching practices at a coaching forum held at Central Reserve.
Day two in Colac began with a leadership forum hosted by Jock Brady which saw over 70 local school students have the opportunity to hear from a panel of players on their experience in leadership and offer advice to students wanting to pursue roles of leadership. 28 players were in attendance to guide the students through interactive leadership scenarios. Just Think ambassador, Zac Smith, provided the audience with information on our Just Think campaign, promoting the key message of looking after your mates, making good choices about alcohol consumption and not drinking until at least the age of 18.
Seven schools, two kindergartens, Colac Area Health, Youth Hub and the Flexible Learning Centre received visits from the playing group where the players had the opportunity to deliver clinics, the Healthy Heroes program, paint and read stories, learn all about the amazing programs the Youth Hub offer and experience the alternate education setting in the Flexible Learning Centre.
Bellarine:
Night one on the Bellarine saw School Ambassadors and Auskick coordinators gather together to hear about the Cats in the Community programs and what is in store for junior football, schools and AusKick centres in 2018.
Day two began with a leadership forum, replicating the one held in Colac, which saw high school students from the Bellarine also gaining the opportunity to educate themselves on what it takes to be a leader, different types of leadership and to learn about the Just Think campaign.
Five schools were visited by the Bellarine group who all received the Healthy Heroes recipe book and were provided with a clinic by the players.
Cottage by the Sea hosted the group for an afternoon of activities with the children including basketball, court games and a giant game of tug of war!
