A school rugby team is using its Warrior instincts to tackle on- and off-field challenges.
The Year 9 team at Woodridge State High has used Polynesian culture to strike fear into their opponents, but also to embrace the difficulties posed by classroom learning.
The team has been working with the cross-cultural liaison team at Logan Police to ensure the boys are as engaged with their studies as they are with their sport.
Team coach Tim Boxall said the Reconeqt program ran throughout Term 3 and taught the team techniques to transfer to the classroom, which could also be useful for lives outside school.
“The program teaches students the important topics of online safety, bullying and sexual harassment, all the while connecting the boys to their Polynesian culture through drum beat lessons and tribal artworks,” Mr Boxall said.
“A reoccurring theme CCLU have been promoting is a warrior mindset for the boys to use onto the field to strike fear into opponents but also into the classroom to challenge themselves to improve their academics.
“Warriors never back away from a challenge, but previously classwork would be a challenge many athletes ignore.”
Police have been instrumental in changing the culture within the team to deal with that challenge as if they would any opposition player on the field, Mr Boxall said.
“This culture change has improved the boys’ behaviour and effort in the classroom and has improved their work ethic on the training field,” he said.
“The year nine team has been lucky enough to work closely with Multilink representative, former Sydney Rabbitoh and Kiwi international David Fa’alogo, who has given the boys plenty of advice throughout the program.
“He, along with the CCLU have also volunteered their time in the mornings to run training sessions with the boys focusing on fitness and skills. They also showed their dedication and commitment by arriving at school at 6.30am before a student free holiday, to work hard and improve their game.
“This training culture has already seen success with the team beating Beenleigh State High School 32-10 in their last game.”
