The reigning Dally M and Brad Fittler Medallist, Tom Trbojevic, will lend his voice towards making sporting clubs across Australia more welcoming and family-friendly.
Trbojevic will be speaking to representatives from all sporting codes on 16 February at a Webinar organised by the national body, the Alcohol and Drug Foundation.
The ADF developed and started the “Good Sports” program two decades ago after concerns by Victoria Police around dangerous alcohol-related behaviour creeping into sporting groups.
The program targets areas including binge-drinking, under-age drinking, drink driving and unlicensed alcohol sales and provides resources to make clubs more accountable and responsible in their duty of care.
Newcastle Knights 1997 premiership winning lock, Marc Glanville, has been involved with the program for 15 years. He will be interviewing Trbojevic about his exposure to alcohol in the sporting environment.
“The club he played his footy with (Mona Vale Raiders) is a Good Sports-accredited club,” Glanville said. “So, he’s come through the junior ranks and probably had to deal with alcohol issues in his teenage years, either by witnessing things or acting on things.
“It’s huge to have his input. We’ll have clubs from around the country dialling in and most of them will know about Tom, not just those in NSW.
“His profile is massive, and we know he wants to encourage clubs to continue to be part of the Good Sports program. That kind of recommendation means an awful lot.”
There are about 80 different sports in the Good Sports program, including the four major football codes, but also high-participation sports like basketball, hockey, cricket and netball.
“We’d love to see all our rugby league clubs in NSW be Good Sports-accredited and we’ve been trying to get around to all corners of the state to spread the word,” Glanville said.
“Many local governments are making it a priority for clubs that use council-run grounds. We want to ensure clubs are the best they can be, so everyone feels safe and healthy there.”
Russel (Russel) Grimson is the NSW Regional Development manager for the Good Sports program. He said there were 500 rugby league clubs who were accredited across NSW and the ACT and all of them would be invited to tune in on 16 February.
Trboejvic’s outstanding year in 2021, with 28 tries from 18 NRL games for Manly and four tries in three games for the Brydens Lawyers NSW Blues, has made him a familiar face to league fans.
But Grimson said the 25-year-old’s reputation made him well-known to other sports.
“It’s not only Tom’s efforts on the field but his personality, mannerisms, and integrity transcend rugby league,” Grimson said.
“He’s a role model for many sports. From our perspective at ‘Good Sports’ he’s the perfect choice to get our messages across about creating a safe family-friendly environment within clubs.
“Good Sports is something that can really connect with every individual sporting club no matter location, or size. What we want to achieve is really strong, connected, safe community sports that everyone wants to be a part of.”
2022 registrations are open across all community competitions in NSW! Head over to Play Rugby League to sign up to the game for all.
