More than a footy game
A GROUP of indigenous kids gathers around a camp fire on Cape York, where the termite mounds rise like red dust veils and the heat is relentless.
Part of AFL Queensland’s intake of youth from communities between Cairns and the northernmost tip, they are the faces of a generation forced to grapple with so much more.
Standing before them in the dark, Cape York regional manager Rick Hanlon tells them sometimes the greatest dangers lurk within – the kind born generations before through a spiral of substance abuse and domestic violence repeated again and again in isolated indigenous communities.
In a region where indigenous youth are five times more susceptible to alcoholism and suicide, Hanlon’s message is good.
Be kind to yourselves, he tells them.
“What you do today impacts your life tomorrow.”
This week, about 80 students from AFL Cape York and several high schools from FNQ took part in the annual excursion that sees recruits travel by 4WD through many of the communities they call home.
Joined by three-time Brisbane Lions premiership player Chris Johnson, it culminates in a competition named in his honour – a contest between the teams from Cairns and players pulled from the peninsula league which takes in the remote towns of Bamaga, Mapoon and Seisia.
And those tasked with managing it see an opportunity beyond the footy, to underline the kind of life skills that can strengthen personal pride and lift Cape communities.
It’s a blueprint Hanlon believes can work anywhere, but particularly within Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island communities.
It’s been 20 years since he headed north with a passion for footy development and he admits it only takes a tap on the shoulder from a former student to make it all worth it.
“I had no understanding of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander culture,” Hanlon said.
Johnson, an All-Australian and member of the indigenous Team of the Century, said Aboriginal youth were getting better at seeing opportunity.
“It’s amazing when you are out in this landscape that you have so many of these young people who just start opening up and talking about some of the things they normally wouldn’t talk to you about,” he said.
“Some of them come from single-parent backgrounds, some don’t have any parents at all. Just being up here and being a mentor and a role model is rewarding but also gives them a bit of a sounding board and someone to talk to at the same time.”