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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2024-10-15 Daily Xml
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Growing for Gold Program

Mrs PEARCE (King) (15:14): As we return to parliament this week, so do the many students returning to school, much to the elation of many families across our state. Fortunately for many across the north and the north-east, families had the holidays sorted thanks to the Growing for Gold program. This program was first initiated in 1999 thanks to the City of Salisbury, and the program is designed to introduce participants to a wide range of sport and recreation opportunities to help them to discover their passions in an inclusive, fun environment, and of course absolutely free of charge.

We know how expensive sport can be and we all know how indecisive our little ones can be. They want to try everything all at once and that can place an incredible burden on families and parents who want their kid to find what is exactly right for them. This program is a really fantastic way of encouraging kids to get out there and explore their interests while also helping to alleviate some of the burdens that are faced by parents.

This program was open to all young people, regardless of their ability, their cultural background, their socio-economic background and so on, and all received support to ensure that they continue to be active through being provided a $50 Intersport voucher and a SHANX Mini Golf family voucher. I am very appreciative to both for getting behind and backing this program. Of course, next year families would then also be able to receive further support from the state government with the doubling of the school Sports Vouchers. They can spend all $200 at once or they can split it to spend it in two goes, across seasons or across sporting activities.

Since its inception, this program has grown to partner with the City of Playford, the City of Tea Tree Gully and the City of Port Adelaide Enfield. Last year, just in the City of Salisbury alone, there were over 700 children who benefited from this program, so I am really excited to see the impact that it has had this year across all those local government regions.

The aim of the program does include providing an avenue through which local sports and recreation clubs can promote the programs and services that they are providing in our communities, providing young people with an opportunity to participate in sport and recreation-based programs that provide them with a positive experience, and of course increasing the number of young people who are actively involved in long-term community-based physical activity programs.

The Growing for Gold program aims to encourage young people to try a variety of different activities in recreation and sport so that they can then hopefully take that next step and join a club of their choice. It was really pleasing to see that this year over 73 clubs participated. I was fortunate to be able to pop in to a few of the different activities across different clubs in the area, and it was really phenomenal to see the impact that it was having on young people and their families.

We know that supporting young people to live healthy and active lives through sport provides so many benefits, and it goes far beyond the physical. It is good for their mental health and wellbeing, and it is critically important to helping them to develop a certain amount of skills that serve them so well into their adult years. Learning how to win, how to lose, how to problem solve, how to resolve conflict, how to persevere, how to build friendships—the list goes on, but they are all incredibly beneficial skills to take with you throughout life.

With all that in mind, I would very much like to thank the City of Salisbury, the City of Tea Tree Gully, the City of Playford, the City of Port Adelaide Enfield and of course all the participating clubs for their incredible support over the last two weeks. I know it is a huge effort. I would also like to provide a very special shout out to some of the local clubs in my electorate that participated, those being the Golden Grove Cricket Club, the North East Hockey Club, the Pegasus Pony Club and the Australian World Taekwondo/Oriental Sports Academy in Greenwith.

We also had some amazing clubs just outside my electorate that I know so many from my community adore that I would also like to thank, including Tea Tree Gully Gymsports, Tea Tree Gully Little Athletics, Modbury Bowling Club, Hope Valley Netball Club and the Modbury Tennis Club. Our clubs are already doing such an amazing job to help enrich our local communities, but those that participated in this program went that extra step over the holidays to make something really truly special.

On behalf of all who participated, I thank them very much for all their hard work and their efforts. They are very much helping to enrich the lives of young people in our community and I know it is going to have a tremendous benefit for all, so thank you.

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