YOU might think Port Adelaide footballers and children of Australian Defence Force personnel would not have a lot in common, but at a family day run by the club on Tuesday a lot of similarities emerged.
In the lead-up to the Power’s ANZAC Day round clash against Geelong on Saturday night, the Port Adelaide Community team staged a football clinic for about 200 Australian Defence Force (ADF) personnel and their families.
Most of the children involved are participants in the Power to Be Positive program which is a resilience and wellbeing program the Port Adelaide Football Club puts on in schools for children with families in the ADF.
Curriculum areas include positive thinking, gratitude, mindfulness, growing from challenges and goal-setting and the program is delivered to young people from primary and secondary schools across South Australia and Northern Territory.
Participants and their families are then invited to an annual Family Event along with the opportunity to attend the ANZAC Round game at Adelaide Oval to meet players and form the guard of honour on field.
“For a family event in the school holidays it’s a really good opportunity to bring Defence force families together, we’ve had a really good turnout, which is fantastic so we’ve got about 200 people here,” said Port Adelaide’s Youth Programs Coordinator Cassie Pyman.
“We’ve also got the ADF All Stars team here helping with the clinic and they’re playing in the curtain raiser this weekend against the Australian Combined Emergency Services.”
Power players Robbie Gray, Brad Ebert, Sam Powell-Pepper, Billy Frampton, Jack Trengove, Dougal Howard and Chad Wingard helped run the clinic and Ms Pyman said they noticed a lot of similarities with their own personal journeys.
“Being in the defence force comes with a lot of things like moving around and relocating, a lot of things that are actually similar to what our players go through, so we’ve linked up with the Defence Force to build those skills and to help the children handle difficult situations better,” she said.
“(AFL players) often have to move away from family and friends and move schools to play footy and I think it’s probably one of the programs the players enjoy being involved with the most because they can make those connections with the kids.”
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It was a message which resonated with RAAF Sergeant Adrian Borlace, who attended with his young son Sullivan.
Sergeant Borlace previously represented the ADF All Stars during Port Adelaide’s ten year association with them, and the Aircraft Systems Technician said getting the families of ADF personnel together for networking was invaluable.
“With relocation, we have a lot of issues with uprooting and leaving all your family and friends and then the kids are sort of starting over again,” he said.
“Having these family days is a really good way to get them together and build those friendships and ultimately it builds the parents’ friendships as well because they’ve been uprooted too and have got to make those new support networks.
“Sport, especially team environments, are huge in bringing people together and bridging relationships, and kids can make good friends and develop a stronger character as well.”
Lieutenant Colonel Anthony Birch, who is the Director of the ADF Men’s Football program said his ADF All-Stars were excited to be involved in the clinic and the curtain raiser on Saturday evening.
He said players looked forward each year to ANZAC Day week and getting the opportunity to come together to represent the ADF.
“All the players really appreciate the opportunity to give back to the community, and things like the skills clinic with all the Defence Force kids here today and our partnership with the Port Adelaide Football Club to have those strong community relationships, helps to not only raise the profile of Aussie Rules but also the Defence Force,” he said.
“We find that there’s a lot of cultural similarities between the Australian Defence Force and the Port Adelaide Football Club - we’re all looking to do the right thing by the community and to perform our best at every opportunity.”
Players from both the ADF All-Stars and Australian Combined Emergency Services teams will be given the opportunity to train at Alberton in the lead-up to the game, but Lieutenant Colonel Birch said getting to play on Adelaide Oval was the real thrill.
“It’s a great chance to represent the Defence Force community in front of a much bigger crowd than they’re used to, and also to showcase just how good they are at football,” he said.
“We really do have some high quality footballers in the Defence Force and giving them an opportunity to play on the big stage in front of a pretty big crowd at the Adelaide oval on that ANZAC Day weekend is really important to us.”
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