Kicking the right goals
Some may find it a surprise but I’m not a book snob. If a person leans more towards Sheldon than Shakespeare then so be it. The same for kids. If they prefer Harry Potter over My Brilliant Career, go for it. I think the more important thing is that people read things they enjoy and if that means it’s not a classic, then that’s OK by me. But they should read a lot. It’s the same for movies. I’m actually a big action movie fan — the bigger they blow it all up the better. I think it comes down to the fact I yearn for a bit of escapism after dealing with a bit too much reality at work sometimes. Think Sylvester Stallone, Bruce Willis, Arnie and Harrison. Love, love, love them. You can add to that list The Rock, that hulk of a man who went back to using his real name Dwayne Johnson after trading in his professional wrestling gig for mega-movie stardom. So it was with great glee recently that I came across one of his offerings that I hadn’t seen before.
In light of the heartbreaking run of senseless vandalism at regional sports clubs at the hands of delinquents, this movie’s storyline has stuck with me.
In Gridiron Gang, Dwayne Johnson plays a worker at the Los Angeles Kilpatrick detention centre who realises that the system is failing. So to try to stop the cycle of reoffending and even death for some, he creates a football team called the Mustangs.
It’s loosely based on the Kilpatrick Mustangs and if you’re after a feel-good story about saving seemingly hopeless lives, I’d recommend it.
Yesterday marked one year since football clubs joined forces to host the Streets to Sports fun run event in Cairns.
The event aimed to get kids off the streets and into sports and came about after escalating suburban crime, particularly car thefts.
Event organiser Rob Hodge is now working on a new program linking disengaged youth with the Gordonvale Men’s Shed. Forget Hollywood’s many takes on this theme, success doesn’t have to be just about winning the big premiership.
Success can mean a juvenile feeling a sense of belonging, respecting somebody else and their property or finally working towards a goal whether it be going to school every day or enrolling in a course. It’s hard to fathom why these children, as young as 11, have wreaked havoc on sporting clubs but then I’ve had the benefit of growing up in a safe and loving environment.
I don’t tolerate vandalism but there are bigger issues at play here and just calling for their parents to pay up isn’t going to get us anywhere. However, if those kids were placed into a program where they played sport and were given responsibilities within a sporting club environment then they may get to know what winning actually feels like.
IF THOSE KIDS WERE PLACED INTO A PROGRAM WHERE THEY PLAYED SPORT AND WERE GIVEN RESPONSIBILITIES WITHIN A SPORTING CLUB ENVIRONMENT THEN MAYBE THEY MAY GET TO KNOW WHAT WINNING ACTUALLY FEELS LIKE.