Jaycee and Deshaun don’t mind getting up early to train with the Mt Austin Clontarf Academy. Photo: Chris Roe.
It’s still dark at 6:30 am and a frosty two degrees as a white bus winds its way through the tight streets and cul de sacs of Wagga’s south-western suburbs.
Seated with me in the back is Patrick Edmunds, a former PE teacher who now serves as regional manager of the Riverina’s Clontarf Academy.
“I just love the positive impact you can have on the young fellas, mentoring and working with them in the schools every day,” he says.
Originating in WA, the Academy helps young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men attend school and engage in a healthy lifestyle.
Through a combination of training, mentoring and incentives, Clontarf supports the boys through to Year 12 and provides practical assistance to set them up for employment.
“We do two morning training sessions a week as well as a couple in the afternoons,” Pat explains as the bus pulls up outside a small brick house and driver ‘Doc’ beeps the horn twice.
There are no lights on yet, but a hooded figure with a backpack emerges from the house and climbs aboard.
I’m surprised as the teenager looks me in the eye and extends his hand with an introduction.
“Jay,” he says as we shake.
Pat explains that the handshake, like the early start, is part of the program.
“We work hard throughout these secondary school years to develop good blokes, job-ready blokes,” he says.
“Getting in early sets up the day and programs the body clock as we all get to run around and then we’ll sit down and have a good breakfast together.”
Doc continues to steer the bus on a complicated route through the estates, stopping regularly with a “beep beep”.
“They call me the Roadrunner,” he grins as the numbers grow and the sun rises.
“We’ve got 97 in the academy and for training, we average around 30 boys, sometimes a bit less in winter.”
The bus soon arrives at Mt Austin High School where the boys eagerly pile into the hall and change into their green or gold Clontarf shirts for a vigorous round of dodge ball.
Watching on are Nathan Rose and Ben Thompson who are in the process of establishing Wagga’s second academy at Kooringal.
Nathan is a well-known local rugby league player and coach and worked with the Mt Austin academy for six years before stepping up to oversee this new challenge.
“I love getting the boys up early for morning training and getting them into a routine,” he says.
“But what tops it all off is when a kid comes through at Year 7, and you see him grow through the foundation and then complete the HSC.
“That’s the best bit about the job I reckon.”
The new academy at Kooringal was given a leg up by the Wagga RSL who recently awarded them $10,000 through their Club Grants program.
“It just helped massively towards these kids,” Nathan says, explaining that the money will go towards setting up a room at Kooringal High School and also taking the graduating young men on an end-of-year trip.
“We’ve got three Year 12 boys who are about to graduate and we’re looking at Uluru for a senior trip,” he smiles.
“Then obviously next year, we’ll have the Year 11 boys come through and they look at that and they go – geez, that’s a good trip, I’m gonna stay at school!”
Ben Thompson and Nathan Rose are in the process of launching Wagga’s second Clontarf Academy at Kooringal High. Photo: Chris Roe
Ben has recently joined Clontarf after seven years as a youth worker in Wagga’s lower socio-economic suburbs.
He has watched a generation of young Aboriginal men go through the program and says it’s been amazing to see its impact.
“I was chatting to one of the alumni the other night and, in his words, he used to be a bit of a troublemaker,” he says.
“But because I’ve only seen him in Clontarf, I’d only seen him as this exemplary kid and now he’s a fourth-year apprentice mechanic.
“He still wants to give back to the community, and his ultimate goal is to come and work for Clontarf, so I think that epitomises what the program is all about.”
As dodgeball winds up, the boys huddle together in the hall, arms around each other and listening closely to the mentors.
With a bacon and egg breakfast on the BBQ we head across to the nearby Mt Austin classrooms and into the Clontarf room, decked out with a pool table, fridge and desks.
Teenagers Deshaun and Jaycee show me around the room, which is covered with photos, posters and attendance charts.
“All these photos are the things we do at Clontarf, like footy games, trips and this is us helping out at the Rotary Club book fair setting up all the tables and stuff,” Deshaun explains before Jaycee chimes in.
“Sometimes we go to Red Hill [Primary] School and help out the little kids and play games with them,” he smiles.
They both agree that the morning training and the trips are the best parts of the Clontarf program.
Jaycee says it’s not so hard to get up for the early morning runs and proudly points out a photo of a group of boys outside NSW Rugby League headquarters in Sydney.
“We did that trip with all these other Clontarfs and it was all the top 10 trainers that got to go,” he says with pride.
“I got picked in it and we got to go and play rugby league with all the others; it was really good.”
Tour over, Nathan Rose invites me to come and see the new Kooringal Academy once they get things underway.
“We’ve got the room and about 30 boys signed up,” he says.
“I don’t know if all kids see it at the time, but there are so many career opportunities and pathways for these boys.
You can learn more about the Clontarf Academy on their website
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