Two hundred and forty primary school children from far North Queensland will compete on Friday 19 August in the Garbutt Magpies Cup and sponsors are asking the public to come along and support them.
The competition, now in its third year, was established by the former Garbutt Magpies Club at the request of the AFL who wished to engage more with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youth in Queensland.
Twenty schools from across Far North Queensland will take part in the 2016 cup, each contributing players to a total of 14 teams.
Several former Garbutt Magpie AFLQ players are travelling across the region, visiting participating schools, presenting the players with their shirts and delivering a mentoring session to the students.
Open to all year five and six students, of both sexes and from all cultural backgrounds, the cup uses sport as a vehicle to promote messages of resilience, strength and connectedness to kids on the cusp of adolescence.
Ausco Modular are proud to return as sponsor for the third consecutive year and are delighted to be involved with an event that has so many Aboriginal and Torres Straight Island mentors.
“The students participating in the competition will enjoy the mentorship of former Garbutt Magpies players who have returned to share stories and offer their perspective on life and growing up,” said Ausco Manufacturing Manager Craig Canning.
“For the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students, watching mentors from their own cultural background will be a particularly poignant experience.
“Ausco is a big supporter of local events and this one combines four key areas that our company is particularly passionate about: sport, education, cultural awareness and community spirit.”
The Garbutt Magpies Cup chairperson, Leon Stubbs says that the competition is reminiscent of a time when community members played a greater role in the lives of young people.
“From the 1950’s through until 1989 the Garbutt Magpies Sporting Club was an important part of the Garbutt community.
“It was more than just a sporting club–it was a second family to the local kids that played AFL, Rugby League, Basketball, Vigoro, Cricket and Softball.
“The coaches and other adults were genuine mentors and role models to these kids, but unfortunately this sense of community connectedness doesn’t exist as much today.
“Over the previous two competitions the Garbutt Magpies Cup has proved itself to be a wonderful way for elders to re-connect with local kids and teach some important life lessons–all whilst enjoying a good old game of footy,” Leon said.
The Garbutt Magpies Cup will take place on Friday 19 August 2016 at Murray Sporting Complex from 9:45am.
The round-robin competition will conclude at 2.00pm with one team taking home the prestigious cup for the year.
For more information about the cup, including a list of participating schools visit: www.garbuttmagpies.com.au
