Three days, six schools, two clubs, one awards night and over 500km travelled, and you might get a rough guide into last week’s Great Southern excursion for the Go for 2&5 Community Development Program.
The Western Australian Institute of Sport’s program – which is entering its third year – has stretched across the state to deliver its aim of promoting healthy active lives for Western Australian children.
Following an early hours flight to Albany on Wednesday morning courtesy of the great team at SkyWest, the first road stop was a trip to Mount Barker Primary School where Olympic gymnast Dasha Joura kicked the program off in style with a motivational talk to the community’s upper primary students before leading the groups in 30 minutes physical activity and demonstrating some of her marveling gymnastic ability to the delight of the group.
The afternoon session saw Joura joined by Olympic gold medal sailor Elise Rechichi in beautiful Denmark. (Rechichi had made the drive south after her taxi driver en route to the airport suffered a heart attack. Showing incredible resolve and duty of care, Elise called an ambulance and stayed with the man, helping to save a life-threatening situation). The students at Denmark Primary School were enthralled by the pair’s stories and hearing of their journey to the Olympics. As per usual, the fruit and veg tag and fruit salad relay proved massive hits with the kids.
Joura and Rechichi were guests of honour at Wednesday night’s Albany Sports Awards and spent time discussing their sport involvement and health promotion with the audience. The night celebrated Albany’s finest sporting achievements for the year and showed the vibrant and positive impact that sport has made on their community.
Thursday morning included a road trip West to Walpole – home of the tree top walk and an abundance of breathtaking old growth forest. If the scenery was amazing, the reaction of the children at Walpole Primary left nothing to the imagination. Despite some chilly and overcast weather conditions, the students were full of energy and had dozens of questions, with the biggest reaction reserved for Rechichi’s gold medal, which was passed around the class.
Travelling through the Great Southern you are struck by the diversity and unique nature of the Western Australian landscape, and any thoughts of travel fatigue are overwhelmingly outweighed by what is unquestionably one of the world’s great treasures.
Albany’s abundant history and culture boasts home to some 30,000 plus people and nestled just five minutes from the town centre is Flinders Park Primary School where Thursday afternoon entertained more fruit and veg fun.
The Flinders Park crew was an active bunch with football, cricket, soccer, taekwondo, equestrian and sailing all earning mention as student participation sports.
Thursday night was club night, with Dasha Joura heading to a local gymnastics group and Elise Rechichi dropping anchor at the Albany Sailing Club to deliver a mentoring speech with the junior athletes.
Joura was a massive hit with the gymnastics clinic, providing advice and technical hints, but most importantly reminding the kids that participation and having fun was the real key.
Rechichi helped the sailing group identify areas of self improvement and promoted self awareness and a healthy diet as staples of any successful sporting pursuit.
Friday morning, and the road trip was back on, this time taking the 120km trip out to Borden passing by the iconic Bluff Knoll. Borden is a rich grain farm area and the quaint Borden Primary School caters to just 35 students from kindy to Year 7.
As Dasha Joura explains, the opportunity to visit the more remote communities is one of the most rewarding aspects of the Go for 2&5 program.
“Seeing such a small community and how strongly they identify with the health message is inspiring,” the three time national gymnastics champion said. “The little kids glowing faces were just gorgeous and knowing they rarely get opportunities like this makes it all the more special.”
With the final stop a visit to Albany’s Yakamia Primary School, Joura and Rechichi spoke with three classes, and being a Friday afternoon the physical activities were energy charged.
The affectionately nicknamed Yakamaniacs were the loudest group and the brightly coloured school uniforms made the school the perfect farewell to a hugely successful trip.
Having enjoyed a dramatic week, Rechichi hoped the impact of the WAIS Community Development Program would well outstretch the whirlwind three day tour.
“We packed as much fun and excitement into the three days as we possibly could and I had a great time, said the Olympic champion. “Obviously we hope that the kids get excited about their two fruit and five veg so they can fuel the 30 minutes of daily exercise.”
The Great Southern trip was made possible by the fantastic support of Sky West who kindly provided flights for the Go for 2&5 crew to Albany and back to Perth, as well as the Great Southern Department of Sport and Recreation team. Their generosity allowed the Program to visit far more areas as WAIS strives to promote healthy vibrant lives.
