What’s your connection to Brimbank?
I moved to St Albans in 2007, from Adelaide, and have resided in the Brimbank area since. Most of my friends and family live in the area. I attended St Albans Secondary College and played soccer for Western Suburbs and Westvale soccer club. With the help of other committee members who also grew up and reside in Brimbank, we now run a non-for-profit organisation called Football Empowerment.
What do you like best about the area?
I like the diversity and multiculturalism that is visible in the area and the fact that Brimbank is a melting pot for all ethnic groups and races. I particularly love the respect people have for each other regardless of where they come from.
What do you think could improve it?
I believe we need to engage and educate young people that feel marginalised and feel like they don’t belong to the wider community. In relation to soccer, we need to support young people to play at the competitive level and maintain their level of play. In most cases there are kids that struggle with the expensive soccer fees and commitments that are associated with playing at an elite level. As a community, Brimbank needs to show people that they can follow their dreams no matter the circumstances and that coming from a socio-economic background should not be a barrier.
Tell us a little about Football Empowerment in Brimbank and your role with it.
I am the founder of Football Empowerment. We are using soccer as an intermediary to
run initiatives aiming to address social issues facing young people from disadvantaged communities. Our programs are designed to improve the health and wellbeing of young people from refugee, migrant and low socio-economic backgrounds. The program takes a capacity building approach to engage with young people to provide direct opportunities to upskill and develop future pathways.
What inspired you to get involved with it?
Being a soccer player and a big fan of the game, it has had a significant role to play in my upbringing; therefore I wanted to give back to the community by educating and supporting young people through soccer. I strongly believed in the vision that young people, no matter where they came from, should be given equal opportunity to be active, healthy and empowered to contribute positively to society.
Do you get any support for the program?
For several of our programs we have been provided support from Brimbank council, MiCare, and Melbourne City Soccer Club. The interest for our weekly soccer program has grown rapidly with over 80 participants turning up to our free weekly evening soccer program at Errington Reserve. We also run a variety of leadership, mentoring and educational workshops, as well as after school soccer programs that are very popular among young people, this means that we require further support to continue to run our programs. If you would like to donate or sponsor Football Empowerment please email: admin@footballempowerment.org.au
