Versatile Bombers defender Kyle Hardingham, Dr June Kane of the Bill Hutchison Foundation, Manager of Strathmore Bendigo Bank Phil Stewart, Micaela Wilson from Melbourne Vixens, Jacob Hardiman and Hannah Macdougall from Australia Paralympic Committee, judged the school based projects of competing schools.
Schools involved included Catholic Regional College, The Grange, Gisborne Secondary College, Essendon Keilor College (Niddrie and East Keilor) and Caroline Springs Secondary College.
On The Ball is a role model based program that aims to promote harm prevention by providing young people (13-14 year olds) and their critical support networks with tools and direction to make appropriate life decisions and understand risk taking behaviours.
“For a whole host of reasons, participation in sport provides significant benefits for the mental health of our adolescent community. We can now add to the list of benefits, its potential life-saving role in the prevention of obesity and substance abuse.”
The schools were competing for cash prizes worth up to $1000.
The On The Ball program is a three-phase initiative, designed for ongoing interaction between the students and program facilitators. The phases involves a school visit by the program facilitators, a school based project and a visit by selected students to Windy Hill.
The initiative is delivered by the Bill Hutchison Foundation, with the support of the APC and Melbourne Vixens. Essendon wishes to thank Strathmore Bendigo Bank for their continued support of the On The Ball program.
Click here to learn more about Essendon’s Youth and Education programs.