SPORTSLife is a Community Sports Development initiative of Lesmurdie Baptist Church. The program was created with the intention of using sport as a tool with which to engage the community in order to produce opportunities offering support, both to young people and the communities in which they reside. Having identified that there is an evident lack of support and programs for primary school aged children in the Shire of Kalamunda we are focusing on working alongside primary schools within the area in order to develop an effective service.

We believe that sport can be used as a fantastic tool to engage young people in healthy, fun activities whilst promoting positive life affirming messages relevant to the issues they are facing at school and in their private lives. Through working with primary schools to develop these sporting activities we endeavour to build supportive relationships with young people which provide real opportunitites to address many issues. It is our intention to partner with the school community to discover the key issues and ways they may be addressed.

The SPORTSLife team essentially make themselves available to be used in whatever capacity the school demms most beneficial. They work closely with the principal to develop activities that target specific needs or requirements. At Pickering Brook Primary School, for example, the SPORTSLife team spend approximately 4 hours each Friday afternoon in the school. They attend lunchtimes to informally engage with the whole school and to establish a presence and then run a 1 hour program with a group of Year 6-7 boys, which is aimed specifically at positive role modelling and promoting improved behaviour. Following that is a one hour program with a group of 25 children from Years 4 - 7. After the school day ends, a one hour voluntary program has proven very populer with more than 40 children from Kindergarten to Year 7 attending; a great opportunity to encourage the older children to help the younger ones.

Suzanne Cooper, the Principal of Pickering Brook Primary School, talks about the SportsLife program in her school.

Suzanne: I wish that most people could do what we call “service learning”, get out into the community and do things like the Sportslife guys are doing. Everyone should be doing it, regardless of whether they are affiliated with a church group or whatever, because we can learn a lot from helping others.
LBC: So, the Sportslife program is a real benefit to your school?
Suzanne: Oh, yes. And when I went and spoke at your church recently I was so impressed because it was such a warm, positive and friendly family. You know, I still consider myself a Christian although I don’t attend church regularly, but because I’ve moved around to different positions and different communities a lot, I’ve met so many different people, and I see so many people hide behind the façade of the church and claim to be a Christian. But then I look at their actions and they don’t measure up. And that’s what I love about the Sportslife guys from your church. To have a group of young men come here and, besides being good role models, they are just giving…they never take, and not many people, in my view, do that these days. There’s a lot of taking, but these guys just give, and I just think that’s so special. And that’s what I’m trying to say with this school community; that this is what we should all be looking at. I believe that what we see depends mainly on what we look for. If you have a narrow view of life then that’s all you are ever going to see and that’s why I try and see as many opportunities as possible and look widely. But I do look at people like the Sportslife boys that are just giving all the time and  I think ‘that’s what we all need to go back to’. I know, that the world moves at such a fast pace, that it’s hard, but we’ve got to take time to smell the roses and step back.
LBC: Thank you for your time, Suzanne. It’s been a pleasure talking with you.
Suzanne: Thank you.

For more information on the SPORTSLife program email chub.lbc@iinet.net.au