RussellEbertHandball
Flick pass expert
There was a nice story yesterday in the Weekend Australian about the academy skipper Jamahl Weetra and the academy program in general. The online headline is - Port Adelaide at hub of growing indigenous sport and education programs - but the hard copy was
The footy academy helping next gen scale the mountains of life
The only game in his life in which the final siren could not sound quick enough for Jamahl Weetra ended up being the longest he has ever played. For someone as football-mad as the Adelaide-based teenager, it was a strange feeling, particularly given the prize at stake — a spot in a grand final. The match took an excruciating three extra-time slots to produce a result. But that’s not what sticks in Weetra’s mind. He’s still dogged by a feeling of unease. Throughout this preliminary final, his mind was elsewhere — and with good reason. The match was played at the Greenacres Football Club, whose ground is a decent torpedo punt from Yatala Prison. On the other side of the prison wall was his father, who has been inside since well before Weetra celebrated his first birthday in Murray Bridge. Their contact consists of the occasional 10-minute phone chat. This experience has steeled Weetra to do all he can to avoid his father’s mistakes and instead become a man others look up to. The 18-year-old is making a good fist of it. He credits his mother for “teaching him about respect and respecting other people”.
But the Port Adelaide Indigenous Academy, a team he has captained this year to five wins from six matches, has been crucial too. Tomorrow in Auckland, Weetra and 17 of his mates will tackle the New Zealand under-18 team to complete a week-long exposure to the Maori culture, a reward for excellence at school. The academy, and his mother’s influence have helped Weetra focus less on his father’s absence and more on his willingness to help his people. “(My father’s imprisonment) was not something I used to talk about but I know that it is not about me,” Weetra said. “I am OK talking about it now. Joining the academy has helped me school-wise and to become a man as well. “In generations before my time, our family didn’t have very good times in the society we used to live in, and things are starting to patch back up these days. “Guys like myself and the boys who are part of the academy, it is important to show the next generation that it is not impossible to finish school. That they can get help and that they should not let anyone tell them that they can’t do things.”........
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/spo...m/news-story/5f1b93d57442904e61935276189687e4
Talks about who Paul Vandenbergh is.
Why NZ? learn from Maori culture
This looks like traditional home lands in Oz country than the usual image of green and water of NZ, although the snow cap mountain is out of place for Oz.
Paul Vandenbergh leads members of the Port Adelaide Indigenous Academy on a trek across the Tongariro Alpine Crossing in New Zealand. Picture: Mark Piovesan
Pauly V had the above picture and the following comment on his tweet.
Pauly Vandenbergh @BrusVandenbergh Dec 1
"It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves. " - Edmund Hillary Absolutely amazing to walk the Tongariro Crossing and appreciate the traditional owners and the history of the area. These Aboriginal AFL Academy students are incredible and loved it.
The footy academy helping next gen scale the mountains of life
The only game in his life in which the final siren could not sound quick enough for Jamahl Weetra ended up being the longest he has ever played. For someone as football-mad as the Adelaide-based teenager, it was a strange feeling, particularly given the prize at stake — a spot in a grand final. The match took an excruciating three extra-time slots to produce a result. But that’s not what sticks in Weetra’s mind. He’s still dogged by a feeling of unease. Throughout this preliminary final, his mind was elsewhere — and with good reason. The match was played at the Greenacres Football Club, whose ground is a decent torpedo punt from Yatala Prison. On the other side of the prison wall was his father, who has been inside since well before Weetra celebrated his first birthday in Murray Bridge. Their contact consists of the occasional 10-minute phone chat. This experience has steeled Weetra to do all he can to avoid his father’s mistakes and instead become a man others look up to. The 18-year-old is making a good fist of it. He credits his mother for “teaching him about respect and respecting other people”.
But the Port Adelaide Indigenous Academy, a team he has captained this year to five wins from six matches, has been crucial too. Tomorrow in Auckland, Weetra and 17 of his mates will tackle the New Zealand under-18 team to complete a week-long exposure to the Maori culture, a reward for excellence at school. The academy, and his mother’s influence have helped Weetra focus less on his father’s absence and more on his willingness to help his people. “(My father’s imprisonment) was not something I used to talk about but I know that it is not about me,” Weetra said. “I am OK talking about it now. Joining the academy has helped me school-wise and to become a man as well. “In generations before my time, our family didn’t have very good times in the society we used to live in, and things are starting to patch back up these days. “Guys like myself and the boys who are part of the academy, it is important to show the next generation that it is not impossible to finish school. That they can get help and that they should not let anyone tell them that they can’t do things.”........
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/spo...m/news-story/5f1b93d57442904e61935276189687e4
Talks about who Paul Vandenbergh is.
Why NZ? learn from Maori culture
This looks like traditional home lands in Oz country than the usual image of green and water of NZ, although the snow cap mountain is out of place for Oz.
Paul Vandenbergh leads members of the Port Adelaide Indigenous Academy on a trek across the Tongariro Alpine Crossing in New Zealand. Picture: Mark Piovesan
Pauly V had the above picture and the following comment on his tweet.
Pauly Vandenbergh @BrusVandenbergh Dec 1
"It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves. " - Edmund Hillary Absolutely amazing to walk the Tongariro Crossing and appreciate the traditional owners and the history of the area. These Aboriginal AFL Academy students are incredible and loved it.
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