Sports stars of the future: New pathways open for Armidale's multicultural youth

Sports starts of the future: Chausiku Lwenge, Esperance Ilelo and Rehema Kifara . photo Heath Forsyth

More than 20 young people from Armidale's multicultural communities have been given the chance to test their sporting ability and potentially take the first step towards an elite development pathway.

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The Northern Inland Academy of Sport's Multicultural Talent ID Day brought young athletes together at SportUNE on Thursday, September 24, where they tried their hand at different sports and were put through a range of skills and performance activities.

The day was supported by the Rotary Club of Armidale and formed part of a broader program funded through Multicultural NSW, aimed at building skills and creating opportunities for Armidale's refugee and culturally diverse communities.

Rotary Club of Armidale's Peter Lloyd said more than 24 young people took part, with many coming from the city's Ezidi and Congolese communities.

"It's not just them developing their own skills, but developing a pathway for them as to how they're integrated into the community," Mr Lloyd said.

"These kids today, there's over 24 kids that are here, mostly Congolese kids and Ezidi kids, but they're actually learning to integrate with the community.

"So that's an outcome in itself."

The sporting initiative is part of a 12-month program which has included first aid, cooking, computer and driving programs designed to provide practical skills and help participants connect with services and the wider Armidale community.

Multicultural NSW provided $25,000 towards the broader program, while Mr Lloyd estimated Rotary had contributed between $50,000 and $60,000 worth of volunteer time and other in-kind support.

At SportUNE, participants were given the opportunity to try sports they may have had little exposure to previously, including Australian rules football.

AFL NSW/ACT employee Rory Matthews, who runs Auskick and AFL clinics across north-west NSW, said he was impressed by how quickly the young athletes adapted to some of the game's more unusual skills.

"Their ability to pick up simple skills like hand passing, which is a very niche skill in AFL ... has been pretty incredible," Mr Matthews said.

"The ability to quickly just adapt to the way of kicking in AFL, of not just booting it long and making it hard to catch, but accuracy as well, has just been quite impressive.

"Their ability to pick up the sport has been quite admirable."

Mr Matthews said the participants had also embraced the opportunity to try something unfamiliar.

"They've all seemed to just be loving it," he said.

"They've all been giving it a crack. They haven't been too scared to try anything new, which has been pretty good."

Mr Lloyd said identifying sporting ability was an important part of the day, particularly for young people who may never previously have had the opportunity to find out where their strengths lay.

"Just looking at the kids who are doing the Australian rules football, and looking at the ball skills that they've got, and the same with the guys who are testing out basketball, they've got some great ball skills," he said.

"We never know, we might have another Olympic champion here in the community that's never had a chance.

"So this is actually giving people a chance."

For those who do show potential, the opportunity will not necessarily end with the Talent ID Day.

Mr Lloyd said Rotary had also provided funding for scholarships which could allow athletes identified by NIAS to continue developing their abilities.

"The first part was for the Rotary Club, in conjunction with Multicultural New South Wales, to provide funding for today," he said.

"The second step is that we've also provided funding for full scholarships.

"So from the identification today of those students who have skills that the institute might say, 'You've got skills, if you want to pursue this', it's up to them.

"Then there is a pathway that's paid for for them to take that forward."

Armidale already has an example of where an introduction to sport can take a young refugee.

Mr Lloyd said Rotary's work with Armidale's refugee community stretched back to 2019 and had grown through partnerships with other organisations.

"We can't do this by ourselves," he said.

"It's all collaboration."

He said the ultimate aim was for participants to take the opportunities and skills provided through the programs and determine where they wanted to go next.

"A lot of it's now self-generating, so we were the catalyst, and that's all we're really trying to do," Mr Lloyd said.

"Some are going to start businesses, some are just going to start production with what they're doing, others are going to work on their education.

"So it's really up to them to take that forward."

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