Sporting icons Jonah Lomu, David Tua, Ruben Wiki, Valerie Vili and Temepara George are backing a project designed to get youth off the streets they grew up in. MELE TU’UHOLOAKI reports.
Pacific sporting icons Jonah Lomu, David Tua, Ruben Wiki, Valerie Vili and Temepara George have committed themselves to a Manukau City project designed to get youth off the streets they grew up in.
South Auckland has produced some of New Zealand’s most celebrated sporting icons who conquered their circumstances to become the successes they are. But according to the Find your Field of Dreams project leader and Manukau City Councillor, sporting legend John Walker, the aim of the project is to create better outcomes for youth through participation in sport, not create elite athletes.
The Manurewa raised Walker, an Olympic gold medalist and one of the country’s best ever runners, joined Manukau City Mayor Len Brown in launching the project on May 12.
Walker says his own 15 year battle with Parkinson’s disease motivated him to back this project.
“It is always difficult for people to accept their best is no longer good enough. But I have come to terms with it, and in recent years have made it my goal to leave a legacy for our young people of which all of us in Manukau City, and not just John Walker, can be proud,” he says.
“I see regular sport and physical activity as a way of channeling the energy that our young people have in a more positive, and ultimately rewarding, direction, rather than the negative stereotypes of which we are all aware.”
Find your Field of Dreams aims to provide kids access to council facilities as well as mentoring and coaching programmes, with the assistance of the Manukau City Council, Counties Manukau Sport, schools, churches, and other sport and community groups.
With current gang behavior increasing within Manukau City, creating this project will move youth’s interests into more positive environments. It is hoped the youth will find more relevance with sporting icons from their area, many of whom shared the same experiences, getting involved.
The Field of Dreams is likely to be run as a long-term project over several years.
Source: SPASIFIKmag.com
