Multicultural Health and Fitness Event …

… making connections for multicultural youth and their families.

Friday 8th July 9am-5pm
Saturday 9th July 9am-5pm
Dominic College, Glenorchy

From the dusty refugee camps of Africa, Nepal and the Middle East, to the lush sporting grounds of southern Tasmania, ball sports have remained one of the few constants for young people whose lives have been characterised by constant change.

Poverty is a given in the camps and the only games for children are those which are cheap to play and don’t need formal arenas. Hence soccer is popular and the youth have bought with them those skills and are adapting to another sport – futsal. Like soccer, it requires energy, coordination and skill, but is not expensive.

Tomorrow and Saturday (8/9 July) people from refugee backgrounds will gather at Dominic College at Glenorchy for a futsal sporting event, but finding winning teams or individual is not necessarily the aim.

The Migrant Resource Centre (Southern Tasmania) (MRC) has arranged the futsal to forge community links between children from refugee backgrounds and the wider community and to promote mental health and wellbeing through sport.

The MRC’s early intervention program and Youth Settlement Services have organised it, along with Dominic College.

Sally Thompson, a youth worker with the MRC’s settlement service, said futsal is becoming popular among young people from refugee communities and it is well established from academic studies that sport is a good vehicle for the promotion of community integration.

“This is also a safe place to introduce Tasmanians, who are new to our health and youth services and new to our language, to what is available. We have worked hard to make sure this event is a positive introduction to services which they may need in the future” says Rebecca Lamb, MRC’s Phoenix Centre’s, Early Intervention Program Project Officer.

Apart from the sport, there will be a barbecue lunch and representatives of other service providers such as The Link:Youth Health Services will also be there.
Sally Thompson, youth worker, MRC Settlement Services