National Soccer coach Frank Farina and Olympic squad members Fred Agius and Belinda Dawney are this week helping to teach outback kids the joys of soccer.
Australian Sports Commission Release: National Soccer coach Frank Farina and Olympic squad members Fred Agius (pictured right) and Belinda Dawney are this week helping to teach outback kids the joys of soccer. This is an initiative of the Indigenous Sport Program and Laureus Sport for good Foundation-funded Soccer in the Outback tour in north-west Queensland.
Indigenous Sport Program (ISP), National Manager Glen Brennan said that a highlight of the tour will be when Farina hands out Australian team uniforms to participants.
‘These are ex training and playing uniforms used when the Socceroos played Uruguay during the 2002 World Cup qualifying campaign that the Australian Soccer Association has kindly donated to help inspire these kids,- Mr Brennan said.
The tour is part of the regular Soccer in the Outback program. The Australian coach and players will join Soccer Queensland-s manager for remote, isolated and Indigenous communities, Natalie Cardwell. The tour is travelling from Mt Isa to Boulia today 20 April and on to Dajarra tomorrow.
The program not only helps transfer skills to the communities, it also helps train coaches and officials as well as assisting to develop infrastructure in the communities such as grass playing fields and lighting. Soccer in the Outback is a partnership between the ISP, the Australian Soccer Association and Queensland Soccer to provide opportunities for people in rural and remote areas to develop new skills and enjoy all the benefits and social aspects of a team sport.
Olympic under-23 squad member Agius, who heads to Tunisia on Saturday, travelled to the communities in 2000 and Cardwell said they would be welcomed with open arms.
‘The kids still ask about him each time I visit, so it will be great to have him come back and see how much they have improved,- Mrs Cardwell said.
The tour highlights the work of the Australian Government, through the Australian Sports Commission-s (ASC) Indigenous Sport Program, in increasing the quality and quantity of sporting opportunities for Indigenous Australians, especially in rural and remote areas.
The ISP has worked in partnership with the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation since 2001 and the latest grant is helping to expand the work of Hockey Australia and the Australian Soccer Association in the far western and northern areas of Queensland.
