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Life’s a Ball Visits GippsTAFE!

A group of VCAL and Work Education students attended the "Life's a Ball" program at GippsTAFE's Leongatha campus, facilitated by AFL Footballers Russel Butler and Ezra Poyas.

By Eimear McNelis - 2nd May 2003 - Back to News

A group of VCAL and Work Education students attended the "Life’s a Ball" program at GippsTAFE’s Leongatha Campus, facilitated by AFL footballers Russel Butler and Ezra Poyas.

The Life’s a Ball program provides students with an opportunity to meet inspiring men and women, and to hear them talk about obstacles they have had to overcome, and highlights of getting to where they are.

The program, which involves around 100 of Australia’s elite athletes, visits schools around Australia helping young people to improve their life skills and deal with difficult times in their lives.

Life’s a Ball promotes the emotional well being of young Australian’s by focusing on equipping young people with necessary day to day coping skills, improving the physical and emotional well being of youths, facilitating the empowerment and involvement of youths in the community and improving peer communication amongst youths.

Athletes Russel Butler and Ezra Poyas conducted a 90 minute workshops with the VCAL and Work Education students, conducting fun activities and discussing ideas and topics with the class about communication, dealing with frustration and conflict resolution, choices an consequences, improving self esteem, and goals and dreams.

Russel Butler was on the Australian Diving Team from 1985-1997 and competed in the Seoul and Atlantic Olympic Games. He won a gold medal in the One Metre Spring Board at the Commonwealth Games in Auckland in 1990 and was the Assistant Coach of the NSW Institute of Sport diving program. He currently teaches Pilates in his own studio and is also with the Collingwood Football Team.

Ezra Poyas moved to the Pahran Dragons in 1999 after an outstanding junior football career. At Pahran he played in the TAC Cup Competition, captaining Victorian Metropolitan in the National Under 18 Championships, being selected in the All Australian Team and playing in the Pahran Dragons 1999 Premiership Team. He was drafted to Richmond in the 1999 AFL National Draft, and won the 2001 Liston Trophy for the VFL Best and Fairest Award. He is now playing for the Melbourne Football Team.

After the athletes visited they left behind a six class lesson plan to be run by the VCAL and Work Education teachers.

Source: http://gippsland.com/

Published by: news@gippsland.com

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