Raising the bar with athletics

“Sport is absolutely a platform for providing Indigenous Australians with the opportunity to be equals.

“We need to do more to empower Indigenous youth, and if we can show them that education and sport can work together to give them more opportunities like this, then that’s an exciting future to be part of.” 

It’s language we’re all familiar with, but in this instance the statements carry further weight when uttered by Tyrone Bean.

A proud Kabi-Kabi and Bindal man from Queensland, Mr Bean has a unique insight into the intersection of sport and education; a final year Arts student at the University of Melbourne, he is also part of the University’s Elite Athlete Program, splitting his time with Coburg in the VFL.

And he will soon have the opportunity to talk about balancing success in both arenas, as one of the volunteer mentors for Athletics Australia’s Raise the Bar Academy, to be held at the University in January. 

Part of the ‘Athletics for the Outback’ program run by Athletics Australia, the Academy aims to support Indigenous secondary school students in years 10 to 12 who are interested in pursuing a tertiary education and a career in the sports industry.

Among those joining Mr Bean for the program will be Australia’s fastest woman Melissa Breen, the 2014 Commonwealth Games 100m hurdles finalist and Indigenous athlete Shannon McCann, and one of Australia’s best long jumpers, Indigenous athlete Robert Crowther.

Commonwealth Games and Australian 800m open record holder Alex Rowe (Biomedicine) is also involved, alongside World Junior Championships steeple chase representative Stella Radford.

Mr Bean has little doubt that such programs work, as the beneficiary of many equivalents in his formative years, including captaining the Australian Indigenous Football team on a tour of South Africa as a 16-year-old, and playing in Australia’s Indigenous Under 23 side as just a 15-year-old.

“Not only do you further your sporting ability and education, but you learn co-operation, leadership and about different cultures. It really gets you out there, among peers who are working towards the same sets of goals and making the same sacrifices. It really drives you on,” he says.

“I’m glad I’ll have the chance to show another generation what it’s like to be an elite athlete, all the extra work you need to do, so I can try and give them the greatest opportunity to pursue their dream.

“But I’m also hoping we can inspire more Indigenous students to consider university study after school, that’s really the biggest thing.

“Hard work does pay off, you just need to make sacrifices.”

Bridgid Junot, the Athletics Australia coordinator of the Academy program, is hopeful experiences like Bean’s will indeed inspire the next generation of Indigenous athletes.

“We wanted to create an experience for Indigenous students that allows them to see the opportunities available to them through participating in sport and continuing education beyond secondary school.

“Many young people don’t understand that you can do both, and in fact, are often more successful when you’re able to balance the two,” she says.

“We hope to achieve this vision by exposing Indigenous Australian youth to education pathways offered at the University in a non-threatening, culturally appropriate and fun environment.”

An interest in linking sport and education runs in the family. Brigid Junot’s husband, Carl Junot, is the Elite Athlete Program co-ordinator for MU Sport. He says the partnership brings together many different parts of the University for a single, focused cause.  

“It allows us to work closely with other units within the University – including Murrup Barak, Admissions, Trinity College and Melbourne University Athletics Club – also to work closely with a national sporting organisation,” Mr Junot says.

“Building and strengthening these relationships will help us remain among the top destinations for elite athletes wishing to study at university. But most importantly, the Academy allows our student athletes the opportunity to grow through social responsibility in a sporting sense and help develop young aspiring student athletes who may not have had the same opportunities our current student athletes had as high school students.”

For Brigid Junot and Athletics Australia, the hope is that the program will be a launching pad for further opportunities in the future. 

“It is our intention that if students are interested, they can seek additional mentorship from attending the athletes’ after-event.

“In addition, we hope to service the communities from which participants come through our Athletics for the Outback program, which provides coaching education visits to remote and regional communities throughout Australia.”

It’s a move welcomed by Mr Bean, who stressed such an ongoing commitment was important for the program to be successful. 

“A little analogy that I like to use with programs like this is: Sometimes you have a cloud, it comes in, rains and goes away but doesn’t really make a lasting difference. We’ve seen so many organisations do that.

“What we need is a thunderstorm, something substantial that leaves the grass ‘green’ after it’s left. Then we know a real difference has been made.”

http://athletics.com.au/news/raise-the-bar-14

www.sport.unimelb.edu.au