He’s about to turn 30 this year, but defender Jarrod Harbrow still has plenty to offer the Gold Coast SUNS.
The wily backman has been one of the SUNS most consistent performers in 2018, but it’s his work off the field which has him held in such high esteem within the four walls of the club.
Hailing from Cairns, Harbrow is one of the most successful footballers to come from the region and hopes he can pass on his knowledge and experiences to other aspiring Indigenous footballers through a mentoring program he shares with his brother.
“Harbrow Mentoring started back in 2011 with my brother Marc Harbrow having a passion in improving the life skills of young people through leadership, mentoring and sports,” the defender told SUNS TV.
“I’ve recently started helping him out with Harbrow Mentoring as it’s also a passion of mine and we believe that we can really make a good impact in the Community and strive to create more young leaders.”
Harbrow’s passion for Community work was recognised in 2016 when he won the SUNS Community Award at Club Champion.
The veteran now sees Harbrow Mentoring as a way to shape the futures of Indigenous players on the Gold Coast.
“I’ve recently started an 8-week leadership and professional development program with the Indigenous boys in the SUNS Academy,” he said.
“They’re our next generation of young leaders and I feel it’s important to help and support them as much as possible both on and off the field.
“I want the boys to share in the same experiences I’ve had as an AFL player so I get them involved as much as I can and support them in different ways.”
The eight-week program has three key values: leadership, professionalism and resilience.
Each week relates to a different topic based on what Harbrow believes can help prepare the boys for their football careers.
“These values have been very important to my career and if I can teach these boys as much as I can, I hope to leave these boys with a positive impact and hopefully they become strong, young indigenous leaders,” Harbrow said.
“I’ve gotten my manager to run a workshop on budgeting and dealing with money.
“We also have a couple of guest speakers through the eight weeks, Michael Barlow being one of them.
“He speaks about resilience and shares his story about dealing with adversity to becoming an ultimate professional and a consistent AFL player.”
While the program is designed to help the Academy members with important life skills, Harbrow also sees it as a way to ensure top Indigenous talent remain on the Coast.
“From my perspective it’s just all about trying to get the best Indigenous talent out of Queensland and giving the Gold Coast SUNS the best access and first access to them,” he said.
“(I’ll) try and upskill them in life skills and teach them about leadership, responsibilities and everything they’ll need for when they hopefully get to the elite level.
“Hopefully we can try to pick up a few young talented Indigenous kids from Queensland (in the years to come).”
To see more about Harbrow Mentoring, check out their Facebook and Instagram accounts.
