Sports Refugee Project - Australia

Product Details

Refugee Sports Project

Make a difference by helping refugee children in Perth. This is a unique sports project where you can coach a wide range of sports to refugee children from war-torn countries.

The Refugee Sports Project is a very worthwhile project designed to help disadvantaged refugee children to adjust and settle into their new home. Many of the children you will be working with come from war-torn countries such as Sudan and Somalia.

By teaching these children new and exciting sports, you'll be helping them to learn new skills and you'll be giving them the confidence to interact with their Australian peers on a level playing field (pardon the pun!)

For most of these children, you won't have had the opportunity to participate in sports. Utilising your skills as a coach, you can help encourage these children to appreciate and enjoy sports.

On this project you will have the opportunity to coach these children a sport or a number of sports during the day and then in the evening you will have the opportunity to join a specialised sports team where you will be able to coach and play one or more different sports.

You will be working at a school located in Perth. The school you will be working with have an Intense English Centre (IEC) which has children from war-torn countries such as Sudan, Somalia and Afghanistan who have come to Australia as refugees with the United Nations. The IEC was set up to enable children on the program to learn English and enable them to adapt to the Australian education system before moving into main stream schooling.

As part of the IEC program, the children learn to play sports at the school. As a volunteer on this project, you will be coaching a number of sports to the IEC children as well as mainstream children at the school. Coaching takes place for around 4-5 hours a day. The schools have good sports facilities and you'll work as an assistant to the current sports teacher.

This project is very beneficial to the IEC children because, through sports, you can improve their English skills as well as teaching them new sports. Many of the IEC children are very talented at sports and with your help they will get the opportunity to improve their skills and sporting abilities.

There are a wide number of sports available to coach on this project and you will be involved in a wide range of sporting activities, giving you great diversity on the project. The sports are generally coached by season, but if you wanted to coach a sport that was not in season, or if you wanted to introduce a new sport to the children, the school would welcome it as long as it was of benefit to the children.

The sports are as follows:

Term 1: Volleyball, Basketball & Tennis
Term 2: Aussie Rules, Soccer, Netball & Basketball
Term 3: AFL (Aussie Rules Football), Athletics, Netball, Soccer, Cross Country
Term 4: Tennis, Swimming, Volleyball, Cricket & Soccer

The Refugee Sports Project will take place during the day. In the late afternoons and evenings, you'll have the opportunity to coach and train at a sports club in Perth. We work with a a wide variety of sports clubs, so no matter what field your skills lie in, you'.. be able to coach and train in your field. Please click on the sports listed below to take you to the page giving you all the information about that project.:

• Badminton
• Cricket
• Football
• Lacrosse
• Rowing
• Rugby Union
• Rugby League
• Squash
• Volleyball

Coaching Times and Project Dates

This project runs during the school terms. The school terms are as follows:

• Term 1: 31st Jan - April 4th
• Term 2: 23rd April - 6th July
• Term 3: 24th July - 28th September
• Term 4: 16th October - 13th December

The lessons you will be coaching in will last for 40 minutes and the school day runs from around 8:45 - 2:45. As a volunteer you will be assisting the existing sports teacher at the school coaching the children. As a volunteer you will be working for around 4-5 hours a day at the school.

Accommodation

Your accommodation is located in the CBD (Central Business District) of Perth, Western Australia. Therefore you are very central, close to the main train station and shopping district.

You'll be accommodated in a centrally located lodge that is friendly and relaxing, making it ideal for long-term stays. You may have your own room or you may share a room with other volunteers. There is an excellent kitchen and storage area for cooking meals and plenty of space to relax.

Entertainment at your accommodation includes a pool table, cheap internet access, arcade machines and cable TV (Foxtel), to name a few. But with all the sunshine Perth has - you’ll be out and about enjoying the many outdoor activities! You are literally a stroll from the Swan River and free CBD transport. Trains and buses are also only a few minutes away to take you to Fremantle, King’s Park or to the many other ‘things to do’! The city centre boasts great shopping, restaurants and pubs or head over to Northbridge for more pubs, nightclubs and multicultural cuisine. You'll get to work via bus, which stops outside your accommodation.

Perth was built on the banks of the magnificent Swan River over 150 years ago and is now a city rich in culture and filled with theatres, art galleries and museums. The city is modern and vibrant - a fun, friendly and 'laid back' place, with clear skies and a sunny climate. Western Australia is locally known as the 'state of excitement!'

Some of its more famous attractions include Kings Park, Scarborough Beach, Fremantle and the Swan River. Fremantle (or as the local’s call it, ‘Freo’) is the city’s port and is rich in history. At weekends you will find markets, entertainment and plenty of alfresco style cafes to laze in.

Perth has restaurants to suit all tastes - the most popular cuisine is, of course, the great Australian BBQ. Barbeque facilities are abundant in local parks - take your own food and cook up a feast, Australian style!

For meals in local restaurants, a trip to Perth's inner city centre is well worth the effort - it bustles with activity and offers a range of choices of restaurants.