Ice Factor Spectacular

Ms BEDFORD (Florey) (15:51): On Friday 26 September, it was my special privilege to attend the 10^th anniversary of the Ice Factor Spectacular. This is the highlight of the year for young people involved in a wonderful program which owes its existence to a special group of people led by the very special Marie Shaw QC.

Included among many sponsors was the Hilton Hotel, where the dinner was held. Dandelion Vineyards, McLaren Vale Beer Company, Atlas Wines and d'Arenberg Wines were only a few of the sponsors of the dinner. For the fashion parade, which all the young people take part in, sponsors included Cotton On, Miss Gladys Sym Choon and Peter Shearer Menswear, which was a particular highlight for me because I worked there when I was about 17 years old—over 20 years ago.

I would also like to mention, for the ice hockey side of the program, the Ice ArenA and Bailetti Sports, among others. Soprano Grace Bawden sang during the dinner. Media sponsors were Mix 102.3 FM and Channel 7. There were corporate sponsors such as Caldicott and Co., Taylor Collison, Health Partners, BP and V.I.P., Tenix, Sealink and many, many more. They do a great job in keeping this program going.

I was asked to accompany the Valley View Secondary School by Joe Scalzi, the former member for Hartley, who acts as the manager of the Ice Factor program and who is now dedicating his considerable energy to the education of young people and preparing them to be the best they can be and play a productive role in their community. The Ice Factor program and spectacular go hand in hand. Participants learn the skills and disciplines of the team sport of ice hockey and also learn modelling and deportment to make sure they are successful in the spectacular, which is the showcase for the year, in front of their families and friends, and puts them on a completely different footing with a different set of skills.

The students at Valley View Secondary School are part of the program, and they were all involved in the preparation of the performance on the evening. It is important to note that students' ages ranged from 13 to 18. They have different needs as students, and their ice hockey skills range from beginners to advanced. The older students mentor the younger students and ultimately they are all learning from each other.

This year's participants were David Jorquera from year 12; Kim Wilkinson, Karly Coonan, Tayla Hill and Chloe McCluskey in year 11; Joshua Mitchell, Austin Richardson and Brock Duffield in year 9; and Aaron Steel and Ashlee Coonan from year 8. I have a testimonial from one of the students. They say:

Coming into the program, I was quite shy, but being welcomed into such an amazing community, run by amazing people, that quickly faded and I started to become more confident, not only on the ice, but also at school, other sporting events and [when I was] public speaking. Taking part in the 2012 'Ice Factor Spectacular' played a huge part in gaining my confidence…

Ice Factor means the absolute world to me. It is taken me places that I never thought possible. The program has played such a huge and important part in my life for so long now, that I can't imagine what it would be like without it. Before I started ice hockey, I was struggling with my English work. I was never really good at writing. When it became official that I was a part of the team, I arranged with my teacher a way to keep up with my school work so that I didn't fall behind. We came to the agreement, that I would write a small piece each week on my training session. It felt so good to write about something that I loved and to be able to put all of my thoughts and feelings onto a piece of paper to be able to hand in as part of my assessment.

They finish off by saying:

I now have great confidence when it comes to writing skills and I am currently in the highest English class, passing with flying colours!

Further down they say:

Every day I see improvements within myself and others around me. I think Ice Factor gives people the confidence they need and allows them to create a new or a better journey for themselves. The past nearly 3 years have been such an amazing journey and I look forward to continuing on this journey throughout the remainder of high school.

I would really like to thank everyone who has taken part in running the ice factor program, sponsoring, coaching, the transportation and the inspiration. Without the help of the wonderful people who do these things, I wouldn't be where I am today.

As I said, it was the 10^th annual spectacular dinner, the first one I had had the privilege of attending. It is pretty obvious that the program is incredibly successful. The room was absolutely packed with people and it was a huge auditorium. The kids came out after the initial speeches and put on a fantastic fashion parade. Some of them were obviously very good at what they did; others were obviously trying very hard to keep up with everybody else but the fashion parade itself was a marvellous highlight. The kids were able to keep the clothing which was a real tribute again to the sponsors.

I urge everybody who can to get behind the schools in their area who are a part of this program. A lot of kids do not start at the same spot and they need the extra help that this program gives them. I particularly commend Marie Shaw who is clearly an outstanding individual who has mentored and championed this program for the past 10 years, and I wish her well and thank all the sponsors for their efforts in helping these children achieve.