In what has been a hugely challenging year for everyone, City in The Community has continued to empower the lives of young people throughout Melbourne. By supporting pop up vaccination hubs in our new home at Casey Fields, pivoting successful programs like City Robots, Young Leaders and I Speak Football to online sessions and continuing to build our network in the South East – we have continued to use football as a vehicle of change in demanding times.
Looking ahead to a bigger and better 2022, we are looking forward to the return of our annual Young Leaders training on 18-19th January. For the first time - this session will be at AAMI Park, with all Young Leaders receiving a ticket to our match vs Central Coast Mariners on Wednesday 19th January, a free Mini Roos coaching certificate, and the opportunity to go behind the scenes of life at City.
We’ll also look to expand our award-winning programs such as I Speak Football, Homework Clubs and Healthy Hattricks to new schools and locations. As restrictions continue to ease, we will also look to host local communities and football tournaments at Casey Fields and across the South East.
I’d also like to acknowledge Sue Crow as she departs CiTC and into retirement. As Head of Community for 10 years, she leaves an incredible lasting impact on the lives of many, connecting and advocating for a range of communities through her work. Her contribution has been acknowledged with life membership at Melbourne City FC.
Wishing you all a safe and restful break and thank you again for your support during a challenging 2021. We look forward to connecting with you again in the new year.
Kind regards,
Sunil Menon
Head of Community – Melbourne City FC
Programs and Schools Update
The easing of restrictions across Melbourne in recent times has meant we’ve able to get back to doing what we do best; getting out and making a positive impact in the community.
Since lockdown lifted, our I Speak Football programs have been back up and running at Cranbourne, Malahang and Carlton. We’ve been able to reach plenty of kids and it’s been great to see them running around with smiles on their faces once again.
We recently had 13 of our Carlton participants get the great experience of running around on AAMI Park at City’s Round 4 win over Perth Glory. These kids loved every second of the night, first as the mascots when the reigning A-League Men Champions walked out onto the pitch, then again at half-time, taking part in small-sided games as the ‘Half-time Heroes’ for the night.
Homework Clubs, another of our great programs, also returned to in-person after having previously been delivered online.
Our CITC team got out to Olympic Village, Sunbury and Narre Warren and have now wrapped up for the year. We’ve got some great plans for Homework Clubs in 2022 to ensure that it’s back bigger and better than ever, so watch this space!
Our City Robots program remained online with our CITC team doing an amazing job to ensure this was still delivered to a very high standard and enjoyed by all involved.
The six-week program, run in partnership with UBTech, sees Year 5 and 6 students work in groups to first build and code a robot, before creating obstacle courses and goal scoring celebrations - all wrapping up in a Robot Soccer Tournament!
Encouraging teamwork and problem solving, we were able to reach over 1000 students across 10 different schools, with a great time had by everyone.
If you’d like to hear more about any of those programs or find out how your school can get involved, please email sunil.menon@melbourncityfc.com.au.
CITC celebrate International Day of Disability with our Powerchair team
International Day of Disability was celebrated on Friday 3 December, and CITC were able to get involved with our Melbourne City Powerchair team to continue celebrations a few days later.
It’s a day that raises awareness in normalising disabilities and accepting everybody for who they are.
City’s Powerchair team were recently pitch side at AAMI Park for our Men’s team’s win over Perth, with Captain Luke David and his teammates being interviewed on the big-screen prior to kick-off to chat all things Powerchair football.
We also recently caught up with Luke to talk about the importance of International Day of Disability and the achievements of the team.
He said the day is a chance to turn the spotlight onto disability issues and a great for everybody to learn more about how they can play their part in normalising disabilities.
“It's a reminder to be more aware, be more accepting and inclusive of people with disabilities,” Luke said.
“It's a day to promote and recognise what people with a disability can achieve and have achieved.
The impact of COVID was certainly felt in City’s Powerchair team, with lockdowns meaning limited opportunities for Luke and his teammates to do what they love.
“We hadn't played for a long time, it was hard to train, we lost some really close friends and teammates, all of that made the most recent season difficult but we got through it as best as we could and we ended up winning the state championship,” he said.
A successful season was amazing for Luke, but he said it’s certainly not all powerchair football is about.
“We want to grow the team, we want to find the next generation of powerchair athletes and bring the sport that we love to more and more people, whether they are players or just supporters.”
We certainly encourage everybody to learn more about the sport and help spread the word. You can click here to follow City’s Powerchair team on Twitter to ensure you never miss an update!
Young Leader of the Month: Kaylem Fitzpatrick
This month we’re highlighting one of our City in the Community Young Leader's who has been working hard to have a positive impact in his community.
Kaylem Fitzpatrick is originally from Wagga Wagga in NSW but made the move over to Melbourne to study a Bachelor of Buisness majoring in Sports Management, which he has now completed.
He became aware of CITC’s work when he met Partnerships and Project Manager George Halkias, and first became involved as part of the Walking Football Program.
As Kaylem spent more time helping with Walking Football, he enjoyed it more and more, which saw him become involved in a number of other programs.
“I really like CITC's goals and everything they are about such as bringing the community together,” Kaylem said.
“The programs I do I find really rewarding and I certainly don't see it as a job, it's more about helping people out and making sure everybody is having fun.”
Kaylem’s been a big help across the Homework Clubs and Robotics programs, but his presence is most felt at the I Speak Football program at Malahang which he now runs and really enjoys.
"I've become pretty attached to the participants there and see them all more like friends or family,” he said, “We all know each other and get along very well.”
Thoroughly enjoying his time with CITC so far, Kaylem hopes to one day get a full-time job with the team and sees himself remaining in the sports industry throughout his career.
He also provided some advice to anyone thinking about becoming involved with the Young Leaders program as to why it’s a great idea:
"You'll make lifelong friends being involved in CITC and it teaches you some great principles that you can carry over to everyday life. It's really rewarding watching the kids and participants grow in front of your eyes and makes you feel like a parent.”
Click here to learn more about our Young Leaders program!