Gary Rohan hailed as champion of kids’ causes
IMPACT player Gary Rohan was honoured yesterday for the mark he made off the field in his maiden season at the Cats.
The speedy forward wasted no time getting involved in community causes when he arrived at Geelong after being recruited from Sydney a year ago, becoming an ambassador for GMHBA Stadium’s sensory room, and Barwon Health, particularly its upcoming Run4Kids fun run. Those contributions saw him awarded the Tom Hafey Variety Heart of Football Award at an annual Grand Final-week luncheon yesterday.
Provided by children’s charity Variety, the award was presented by Maureen Hafey, the widow of legendary Richmond premiership coach Tom.
But Rohan was unable to attend because he was attending end-of-season celebrations with Geelong.
Geelong became the first AFL club to provide a sensory room at its home games as a calm escape for young fans with autism and other issues that sometimes mean they struggle to cope with the noise and bustle of large crowds.
Geelong Cats general manager of community Sarah Albon said Rohan deserved the award for the immediate contribution he’d made at Geelong.
“Having Gary as ambassador (of the sensory program) was incredible,” Ms Albon said.
“By lending his brand to this initiative it has elevated the awareness, and I believe it also increased the acceptance of sensory needs.”
Rohan’s teammates Harry Taylor and Scott Selwood are previous winners of the award, while others to claim it in the past include Eddie Betts, Robert Harvey, Luke Power, Nick Maxwell and Luke Ball.
Money raised yesterday was to be used providing four assistance dogs, each valued at $30,000 to Victorian kids.