Sport is a way of life in Australia - so to help ease the transition for newly arrived people into Australian culture the Western Bulldogs’ SpiritWest Services runs Sports Tours throughout Melbourne’s West.
These important tours introduce newly arrived young people to a range of sporting facilities and clubs, while also providing them with an important avenue to engage within their new community in a fun and dynamic environment. .
A recent Bulldogs’ Sports Tour of Wyndham introduced 28 newly arrived young people from Burma, Thailand, Iraq, Ethiopian and South Sudan to new sports that they may have never heard of or seen prior to settling Australia.
The young people were introduced to major sporting facilities in Wyndham including the Werribee Sports & Fitness Centre and the Werribee Indoor Sports Centre as well as local clubs such as Werribee Centrals Tennis Club, Werribee Districts Football Club and Werribee Softball Association.
For many of these young people it was the first time they had the opportunity to learn how to play Softball thanks to the volunteers from Werribee Softball Association.
The girls were also provided with an opportunity to learn how to play Australian Football through a clinic conducted by the Club’s Community Engagement Manager - as a result some of the girls were even contemplating starting their own football team!
The Western Bulldogs’ Settlement Grants Program is funded by the Department of Immigration and Citizenship.
We would like to thank the sports clubs and their volunteers for welcoming the new arrivals to their facilities and making the Sports Tour a success.
