Artilce courtesy of afl.com.au
Gold Coast recruit David Swallow shares his community camp experience from the road at Pottsville, NSW.
WE JUMPED on the bus at Carrara at 7am yesterday morning and arrived at Oakes Oval at Lismore around 9.30. We weren’t sure we were going to train as there’d been a lot of heavy rain. But we ended up doing a two-kilometre time trial, followed by some skills work for a bit over an hour.
It was on to the Ballina Surf Club after that for some recovery, followed by lunch.
We stopped off at the Ballina gym for a quick workout before some of the boys went to school, hospital and club visits, while others had meetings with the coaches.
Last night we had a community dinner, which went really well. We raised $2500 for the junior clubs in the Northern Rivers. There were 125 people there to listen to Bluey (coach Guy McKenna), who was the guest speaker. He spoke about his experiences through his career, how excited he is that the new club is coming in, and how things have changed from his day to now. (Assistant coach) Ken Hinkley had a Q&A session as well. It was a really good night.
This morning we did some more school and club clinics and we’re in Pottsville now, waiting to do our next clinic. We’ve reached about 10,000 kids over the last two days, through visits to hospitals, schools and clubs.
The school clinics give us a chance to talk with the kids and tell them how we got to play the game and share our personal experiences. Then we muck around with the kids for about half-an-hour to an hour, kicking the footy with them and having a bit of fun.
The players have really enjoyed it. It’s been a first for me, and a really enjoyable experience. Talking in front of kids, you get a lot personally out of the public speaking. And it’s good to feel like you’re giving back to the community, which has given so much to you. When I was growing up, having AFL clubs come and see me, you’d always look up to them. Now it’s kind of like the reverse, going to speak with little kids. It’s been really enjoyable.
A bus trip gives you the chance to talk a bit more with people about things other than footy as well. You can ask questions about people’s lives and you get to know their habits and find out what your teammates are like. You play with them every day, so knowing them better helps in that sense.
A couple of the older boys are starting to mentor us, like Harro and Coady (Daniel Harris and Michael Coad). They’ve been really good with the young guys, giving us guidance. It’s good to mix with people of different ages, whereas before I mixed with all young guys. Harro, knowing my brother at North Melbourne, has been especially good to talk to and get to know.
We split up and go to different schools for the clinics. This afternoon, Brandon Matera and I are going to St Joseph’s school in Murwillumbah to talk to the kids there. It’s a bit overcast at the moment but I hear there’s some good weather on the way, so I’m looking forward to it!
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