The AFL today announced that the Gold Coast SUNS will head to the Northern Rivers region and Rockhampton as part of the 2012 Australia Post AFL Community Camps.
The Australia Post AFL Community Camps will see more than 800 AFL players take the game to regional and rural communities across Australia to give football fans of all ages the chance to meet their heroes.
GC SUNS players will conduct training sessions and visit schools and hospitals, to bring together individuals and communities, irrespective of backgrounds and beliefs as well as promote a healthy and active lifestyle.
The GC SUNS will complete both camps on the 5th and 6th of February.
The majority of the team will head south of the border, visiting Ballina, Lismore and Casino, while a small group including North Queensland’s very own, Zac Smith, Charlie Dixon and Jarrod Harbrow will visit Rockhampton.
Gold Coast SUNS Community Manager, Corey Bell, said the club was looking forward to playing a role in encouraging the next generation to participate in AFL.
“The camp gives the players a chance to spend quality time with our younger participants in regions that aren’t on our back door, but have a strong supporter base.”
“Both the Northern Rivers region and Rockhampton are areas that AFL continues to grow, and locations fall into our Gold Coast SUNS Academy zone, where player such as Zac Smith and Charlie Dixon hail from”
Details on the activities at both the Northern Rivers and Rockhampton Community Camps will be published soon.
3000 of the Gold Coast's neediest residents received some much needed festive cheer as the Gold Coast SUNS, the Gold Coast Bulletin, Movie World and the Gold Coast Community fund hosted their second annual White Christmas parade.
GC SUNS skipper Gary Ablett led the way as the club's young players entertained an excited and enthusiastic crowd of Christmas revellers.
With falling snow, and against a backdrop of one million fairy lights, the highlight of the evening was the spectacular Christmas parade which featured Frosty the Snow Man and his gorgeous dancers, Eboneezer Scrooge, the Gold Coast SUNS players and of course Santa Clause who spent time taking Christmas wishes before sledding off to the North Pole to complete his toy making duties.
Last year the White Christmas Charity appeal raised over $30,000 whith the funds distributed across a number of the Gold Coast SUNS supported charities.
But while the event focusses on raising much needed community funds, it's key agenda is to create a few hours of worry free enjoyment during what is traditionally one of the most demanding periods of the year for many Gold Coast families.
Gold Coast Community Fund chairman Simon Bennett said the number of donations received so far was pleasing.
If you would like to help struggling Gold Coasters have a brighter Christmas, make a donation to the White Christmas Stocking Fund. 100% of proceeds go directly to those in need within the Gold Coast Community.
The Gold Coast Community Fund is an incorporated body that was established in early 2000 by some of the city's leading business figures. The Fund seeks to raise money through regular art unions, creating a central pool of money for distribution to charities, community organisations and individuals in emergency need. The Gold Coast Community Fund offers a more systematic approach to fundraising and the perfect fundraising solution for not-for-profit organisations large and small.
It’s been a week just like any other week for Corey Bell.
The ultra friendly Gold Coast SUNS Community Manager frantically working behind the scenes to ensure, the Clubs commitment to the Greater Gold Coast Community is carried out without hiccup or fuss, and that the work done, provides genuine benefit to the Gold Coast and those who call our City home.
Truth be told, the Gold Coast SUNS commitment to achieve over 5000 hours of community work requires massive coordination and around the clock dedication from Belly as he’s affectionately known and the Gold Coast SUNS as a club.
Last Saturday and despite the entire playing list being away at altitude training in Arizona, Corey, mascot Sunny Ray and some of the Clubs administration team attended the 24 hour Bowling for Bronsan fund raiser at AMF Bowling centre Robina with Sunny Ray delighting young Bronsan with his goofy bowling prowess.
Bronsan tragically lost his mother and sister this year and it was fantastic to see all four of the Cities National sporting codes getting behind the fund raising initiative.
The following day Corey led a large club contingent at the annual White Ribbon Golf day on the Gold Coast.
Corey and injured player Josh Toy joined MP Karen Andrews and representatives from the Queensland Police force to reinforce the Gold Coast SUNS commitment to domestic violence awareness.
Domestic violence is one of the three charity pillars the GC SUNS supports, along with youth homelessness and various programs and initiatives in the Northern Gold Coast region.
Domestic violence awareness isn’t a popular charity in comparison to various other nationally supported, however the Gold Coast SUNS are committed to working towards assisting the White Ribbon day achieve the recognition and awareness it deserves with a number of the clubs players nominating to champion the White Ribbon cause.
The Club also showed it’s support for White Ribbon through its digital support through the Clubs website, Facebook and Twitter, with a specially created Twibbon featuring the causes logo ensuring it was front and centre for the clubs online supporters and members to see.
Back at the office and away from the media spotlight, the GC SUNS staff shed the clubs traditional red and held a black and white dress day and charity morning tea, with White Ribbons and supporting wrist bands on sale.
It was a simple and reflective way for the administration to show their support for the White Ribbon Cause.
Gold Coast SUNS chairman and White Ribbon Ambassador John Witheriff attended the Queensland Government Domestic and Family Violence Prevention awards on the Gold Coast as guest speaker where he further reinforced the Clubs commitment to Domestic Violence awareness.
Gold Coast SUNS board member and Queensland Rail CEO Paul Scurrah was announced winner of annual CEO Challenges Race which encourages participants to raise both funds and awareness for Domestic Violence over a six month period.
On Monday night, representatives of the Gold Coast SUNS Executive attended the 17th annual Queensland Sport Awards Presentation in the Great Hall at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre.
Queensland sports black tie “night of the year” centred on the announcement and presentation of 11 sport award categories and this year, 11 Queensland Sport Hall of Fame members were installed as legends. It was a night where the Gold Coast SUNS paid respect to the States finest sports stars and administrators.
The annual White Christmas charity event is the only charitable event on the Gold Coast where organisers plan a frosty reception for their guests some of the Gold Coasts neediest citizens will benefit as the Gold Coast Bulletin, the Gold Coast SUNS, the Gold Coast Community Fund and Movie World combine to host the White Christmas spectacular.
As the Coast sizzles over summer, Gold Coasters attending the White Christmas spectacular at Movie World can escape the heat and enjoy the spoils of a white Christmas, knowing that they are contributing to ten local charities.
The Gold Coast SUNS will kick festivities off with a street parade on the 9th of December with 3000 disadvantaged Gold Coasters provided with a night out and a Christmas they will never forget.
Gold Coaster can also play their part and make a difference at Christmas time by donating to the White Christmas Charity Fund which runs until Christmas Day in 2011, over $30,000 was raised and distributed to Gold Coast charities.
And then to cap off a whirlwind week of Community work for the Club, General Manager of Marketing and Community Kelly Ryan along with Corey accepted the Corporate Social Responsibility award at the Gold Coast Business awards on Saturday night.
Along with their plaque for winning the Mayors CSR award, the Gold Coast SUNS received a cheque for $5000 which the Club immediately donated to kick start the White Christmas appeal.
The Gold Coast SUNS spent well over 5000 hours working across the Gold Coast community in 2011, delivering measurable content and providing valuable support to a host of worthy charities, programs and initiatives.
The good news is, were committed to more of the same in 2012. Community, it’s not what we do, it’s who we are.
Gold Coast SUNS players and staff spent the Saturday at three different community events on the coast.
Jared Brennan, Jarrod Harbrow and Mav Weller joined Gold Coast staff members and over 1,000 participants in the 2011, Day for Daniel in Robina on Saturday.
The Morcombe Family were in attendance during the walk from Robina Common to the Robina State School.
Jarrod Harbrow was also joined by Rory Thompson , Jackson Allen and GC SUNS Community Manager Cory Bell at Studio Village Community Centre Open Day.
The Studio Village Community Centre is one of the GC SUNS nominated ten charities and the Open Day is their biggest day on the calendar. Hundreds of people attended and participated in the activities put together by the GC SUNS promo team.
The day was capped off with the Relay for Life that ran from 3pm on Saturday afternoon until 9am Sunday morning.
Gold Coast SUNS staff joined Seb Tape and Taylor Hine in helping kick off the event during the first lap.
Relay for Life raises funds and awareness for the Cancer Council and the GC SUNS teamed up with CR Donna Gates to form Team Gates.
Overall 31 teams and 450 participants walked laps around the around the Coomera Anglican College Sports oval, where participant s set up tents and camped overnight.
The Gold Coast SUNS last week had the pleasure of hosting 8 indigenous students at the club, as part of the No Boundaries partnership program.
The program is a partnership initiative between the Gold Coast SUNS, AFL Cape York, NPA Council and the NPA College that started in 2011.
The program, which is funded in 2011 by FaCSIA – has a focus on the No School, No Play message encouraging students to go to school and learn through the mentoring of the staff from AFL Cape York and the Gold Coast SUNS players, up in the remote regions of the Northern Peninsula Area.
In March this year Gold Coast SUNS players Rex Liddy and Jarrod Harbrow visited the region for visit number one, before being followed by Alik Magin and Roland Ah Chee in July for visit number two.
The third and final part of the program has seen a visit by eights students to the Gold Coast for a week. They have been selected by the partnership group, due to their hard work and commitment to the key components of the program.
The week of activity for the students included going to Dreamworld on the Tuesday, a visit to Metricon Stadium to watch training and meet the players on Wednesday and on Thursday to visit All Saints Anglican College, the beach and Griffith University.
The highlight of the week was with out doubt the students having the opportunity to attend Saturdays game between the Gold Coast SUNS and the Adelaide Crows in front of a crowd of over 16,000 people.
For many of the students it was the first time they had seen Metricon Stadium and the first time they had seen a game of AFL live.
The first ever Gold Coast SUNS cup has been run for 2011, with Brisbane private school Nudgee College taking out the final against the Sunshine Coast school Stella Maris at Metricon Stadium.
The Gold Coast SUNS cup is a state-wide competition for Grade 6 and 7 boys that in its inaugural year, saw teams from all over Queensland contest for a place in the final four at Metricon Stadium.
The Semi finals and Grand Final were played on the main oval of Metricon Stadium between Nudgee College, Stella Maris, Narangba Valley and St Francis College (Cairns) in front of excited teachers and parents, some who had travelled thousands of kilometres to take part.
And the majority of the Gold Coast SUNS playing group were on hand to watch some exciting football, sign autographs and hand out medallions to the winning players.
And the highlight for the St Francis College team was to hear from Gold Coast SUNS player and Cairns product Charlie Dixon, who spoke to the group after the game about his journey from Cairns all the way to the AFL and his time so far with the Gold Coast SUNS.
Final scores in the final saw Nudgee College win 6.5.41 to Stella Maris 4.5.29, with a tie in the play off for third between Narangba Valley and St Francis College (Cairns).
With the first year of competition now complete, next year should see even more teams vying for a place in the finals at Metricon Stadium in 2012.
The Gold Coast SUNS players and staff today joined hundreds of community volunteers, as part of the Gold Coast regions biggest Homeless support day, Homeless Connect.
Held at the Albert Waterways Community Centre, Homeless Connect is an event that provides many of the hundreds of Homeless across the Gold Coast, a chance to meet service providers, receive a free haircut, collect hampers of goods and enjoy a nutritious meal.
Players Roland Ah Chee and the clubs Youth Homeless Ambassador Nathan Ablett, were joined by many Gold Coast SUNS staff, who assisted the many volunteers on the day in serving food, giving out hampers and speaking to those who attended on the day.
And the event was well attended, with well over 1000 meals served through the day and hundreds of hamper items, being collected during the day by those in need.
The Gold Coast SUNS are committed to areas of Youth Homelessness, Domestic Violence and the North Gold Coast region and this is the 2nd time the club have engaged in this well organised event.
Gold Coast SUNS General Manager of Marketing and Community Kelly Ryan spoke to the large audience there on the day and reconfirmed the clubs commitment long term to the Youth Homeless network and the clubs 3 charities it supports in this area.
“Over the past two years we have committed ourselves to providing a meaningful contribution to the youth homeless network. The work delivered by our three charities is outstanding and we are delighted to be able to assist these charities in the delivery of their key programs. Our involvement in events such as today’s is not only very rewarding for everyone involved but it is inspiring to see all the of the Gold Coast band together to address the issue of homelessness”
Today’s event concludes a big week of activity by the club in the Youth Homeless area, which has included the Face your Fears Day last Thursday, where the club took 50 Homeless Youths to Dreamworld with players including captain Gary Ablett and hosting 150 participants at Metricon Stadium for the St Kilda game.
Gold Coast SUNS players Gary Ablett, Daniel Harris and Nathan Ablett joined 50 Homeless Youth from the Gold Coast at Dreamworld today, as part of the Gold Coast SUNS annual ‘Face your Fears Day’.
The Gold Coast SUNS have committed to the areas of social responsibility in the Community, which includes working with and raising awareness of Youth Homeless, Domestic Violence and the North Gold Coast region.
‘Face your Fears Day’ is an opportunity for the club to work closely with the clubs three Youth Homeless charities (Gold Coast Youth Service, Project for Homeless Youth and YHES House) to provide a wonderful experience for those in need.
The participants had lunch with the players before they all Faced their Fears together on one of Dreamworlds scariest rides, the Giant Drop.
Gold Coast SUNS Captain Gary Ablett said “Youth Homelessness is a massive issue on the Gold Coast and as a club we are keen to raise awareness and help wherever we can.”
“The players really enjoy working with our charities, i know last years Face Your Fears Day was extremely successful and i have no doubt that by working together we can make a difference.”
The Gold Coast SUNS as part of the No Boundaries partnership program, have just completed their 2nd visit for the year to theremote Northern Peninsula Region community, the northern most point in Queensland.
The Gold Coast SUNS in partnership with AFL Cape York, NPARC and NPA College have embarked on the No Boundaries program to help encourage students to stay in school through the no school no play message.
The program has run for the first time this year through the financial support of FAHCSIA, to deliver the program.
Gold Coast SUNS players Roland Ah Chee and Alik Magin travelled up to the Cape York region to deliver the program over 3 days in the lead up to the Gold Coast SUNS vs Richmond game in Cairns.
This activities included talking to students about the importance of staying in school, being healthy and active and encouraging them to play sport.
And the message seemed to work.
For the first ever time, structured football games were held on the 2nd day of the visit, after promoting the event through all of the local schools earlier in the day.
With the goal posts having only gone in 2 days before at the New Mapoon oval, excitement through the day was building as a large crowd entered the venue.
First up was an Under 13’s game followed by the Under 16 game and finally the Open age game which saw a wonderful mix of the community including school teachers, police officers, Gold Coast SUNS staff, an AFL Executive and some wonderful indigenous talent, very new to AFL.
For many of those in the indigenous community, it was the first time they had ever kicked a football and for the majority the first time they had played the game, but as the game and night unfolded their natural talent showed their amazing ability to pick up the game of AFL.
AFL Cape York Program Manager Rick Hanlon said “ The Partnership program is a win win in all facets. It gives the GC SUNS the chance to broaden their brand and attract new supporters to the game “.
For us, it gives AFL Cape York a broader structure and program delivery and the kids get the chance to engage with professional athletes which in some cases are examples of players who have come from a similar environment”
Gold Coast SUNS Community Program Manager Corey Bell said “For our club to be our to contribute to a partnership program that benefits this remote community is great.”
“As a club, we are committed to working out in the community both on the Gold Coast and right throughout Country Queensland and this program allows us to do that”.
The No Boundaries program will have a return exchange visit during the middle of August which will be the 3rd and final part of the program and will allow 10 Indigenous students who have adhered to the program, to come to the Gold Coast and watch the Gold Coast SUNS play against Adelaide on Saturday 20th August.
Hundreds of young, excited junior players from junior clubs all over the Gold Coast got a wonderful surprise today when they were greeted by some of the Gold Coast SUNS most well known players at the annual AFL Gold Coast Junior Super Clinic at Carrara junior football club.
Some of the Gold Coast SUNS players included the likes of Vice Captain Nathan Bock, Michael Rischitelli, Jared Brennan, Josh Fraser, Daniel Harris and Karmichael Hunt just to name a few.
The young players have taken part in 2 full days of skill games, skill development, fun on the inflatable equipment and interaction with the Gold Coast SUNS players, as part of the AFL Gold Coast Juniors Holiday Superclinic. And again for 2011 the event was a sell out with a huge take up rate for very popular Super clinic.
The highlight of the day for the players, was the overwhelming number of young Gold Coast SUNS fans that ran over to greet them when they arrived.
Gold Coast SUNS Community Programs Manager Corey Bell said “This is a wonderful day that is very popular and so well organised. The players really look forward to getting amongst the kids at this Super Clinic each year”.
“The exciting part for players was the overwhelming number of Gold Coast SUNS jumpers that greeted them for a much awaited photo or signature and to see the joy on the young players faces was terrific. “
All of the participants that took part in the two days received a showbag, a hat, drink bottle, lunch both days, a personalised certificate and interactions with their favourite players that will last a lifetime.
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