A whirlwind of excitement and energy will descend on Geelong later this week, when Outback Academy Australia’s Red Dust Heelers breeze into town.
The Heelers, a wheelchair basketball team featuring Aboriginal and other Australians living with disability, have partnered with MacKillop Family Services to deliver a community engagement session for young people who live in residential care on Friday 19 July.
As well as being part of the Wheelchair Basketball Australia (WBA) League, the Heelers’ vision is to use sport and storytelling as a vehicle to promote inclusion, a positive sense of identity, and connection to culture for young people facing adversity.
In Victoria to participate in three WBA games, the team is taking time out of their busy schedule to engage with children and young people in residential care. It is a perfect alignment, as close to 30 per cent of young people in care in the Barwon region are from an Aboriginal background.
MacKillop Family Services’ CEO, Dr Robyn Miller, said the kids are thrilled to have the opportunity to meet the team, which is coached by wheelchair basketball legend and coach of the Australian Rollers Paralympic team, Brad Ness OAM.
“To all of us at MacKillop, these young people are already heroes for the effort they put in every day to overcome personal challenges like dealing with past trauma, anxiety, ADHD, or other disabilities. We’re really excited to have this opportunity for them to be inspired by these extraordinary athletes, many of whom have also dealt with traumatic events in their past.”
“We’re also looking forward to picking up some basketball tips. I have no doubt that after Friday, the Red Dust Heelers will have a new cheer squad in Geelong!”
Red Dust Heeler Ryan Morich – a former NAIDOC Sportsperson of the year, and the first Aboriginal person with a disability to receive a sports scholarship in the US – said the team couldn’t wait to meet the MacKillop students.
“Days like this are what the Heelers team was created for,” he said. "What really drives us is being able to show young people you don’t need to be limited by your disability or your past, and to inspire them to participate in sport, which is such an important vehicle to promote health and wellbeing.”
The Heelers will be joined by their Ambassador Syd Jackson – a two-time premiership player for Carlton – who is a passionate advocate for the power of sport to overcome adversity, having experienced the childhood trauma of being removed from his family as a member of the Stolen Generations.
For further information, contact
Angela Mallon, Media & Communications Coordinator
T: (03) 8687 7414 M: 0438 076 313 E: angela.mallon@mackillop.org.au
About MacKillop Education
MacKillop Education – part of MacKillop Family Services – is a specialist school that provides a positive learning environment to support students disengaged, or at risk of disengaging from school.
