The health and wellbeing of young sportspeople in Macarthur and Wingecarribee is at the heart of a new project being developed by Youth Solutions, in partnership with Wests Group Macarthur.
Called Sports Aware, the program aims to build skills, knowledge, and connections to prevent harm and promote health with young sportspeople.
The project particularly focuses on the areas of drug and alcohol education, safety and wellbeing, seeking help and positive role models.
Youth Solutions, working with members of Wests Group Macarthur sporting network, the Wests Sports Council, already has the project development in full swing, finalising findings from its consultations with local young sportspeople, sporting coaches and management staff.
The consultation findings have identified key areas for the project to address and will shape further development of the project content and materials.
The project pilot will be delivered before the year is out, with the implementation of:
Learning and skill-building workshops with young sportspeople, which focus on areas of drug and alcohol education, health and safety strategies, identifying positive role models, accessing help and supporting others;
Supporter information seminars; to provide information and support to parents/carers, coaches and support staff around relevant youth issues;
Community outreach at local sports game days to connect with young sportspeople and their supporters.
Wests Group Macarthur chief executive officer Daniel Perkiss said the commitment to the new project aligned well with the Group’s passion for supporting the community, particularly around issues of mental health, healthy lifestyles, drug harm prevention and youth sport.
“We’re proud to be supporters of Youth Solutions and the important work they are doing to support young people in our community,” Mr Perkiss said.
“Developing and supporting the Sports Aware project was a natural fit for us and we are excited to support a project that is prioritising the health and wellbeing of local sportspeople.”
Youth Solutions chief executive officer Geraldine Dean said the project would build on foundational work the charity has completed with local sporting clubs to develop a robust project that supports young sportspeople.
“The crux of all we do at Youth Solutions is preventing drug and alcohol harm, building healthy and safe behaviours and increasing connections and support for young people,” Mrs Dean said.
“We are incredibly grateful to be partnering with Wests Group Macarthur to develop the Sports Aware project which has such great potential to positively impact on the path of so many young sportspeople in our community.”
Pictured above are Mr Perkiss (right) and David Tasker (Wests chief financial officer) with Geraldine Dean (centre right) and Amanda Dillon from Youth Solutions.
