It’s homework first at Rumbalara footy club, great marks follow

Caleb Nicholson is taking part in one of the country’s best youth outreach programs, Shepparton’s Rumbalara Football Club.

Kylie Briggs with Caleb Nicholson, Jarris Tass, Tallara Saunders, Mason Nicholson, Ngtaeo Tass and Miah Saunders at the Rumbalara Football and Netball Club in Shepparton, Victoria. Picture: David Geraghty.

Caleb Nicholson has his work cut out for him. On Thursdays, the eight-year-old heads straight from school to Shepparton’s Rumbalara Football and Netball Club for afternoon tea, homework and some games in the local Yorta Yorta ­language.

He’ll then grab a piece of fruit and strap on his boots for football training.

The young football player and member of Shepparton’s Aboriginal community is one of more than 50 kids taking part in the homework club initiative run by the football and netball club, which the Victorian government considers one of the country’s best youth outreach programs.

Today, the club will be on show to more than 5000 people who will descend on to its pitch to watch the Murray Cup regional football ­finals. This year, neither Caleb’s team nor Rumbalara’s first grade will be playing — a four-point loss in the semis put them out of contention — but club and community leader Paul Briggs says it doesn’t matter because the club is kicking even higher goals.

“We’re just excited to be hosting the grand final and a big luncheon that celebrates the club’s presence and success over a long journey,” he said.

More than 22 years after the Yorta Yorta man set up the football and netball club in response to a spate of youth suicides in the late 1980s and early 90s, the club now has more than 250 football and netball players aged six to 25.

About 85 per cent of its members are Aboriginal and the club’s reach is growing across communities and cultures, in part because of the homework program encouraging kids to work on their grades, as well as brush up on local culture, before heading to sport.

“The homework club is really about creating healthy social norms,” Mr Briggs said.

“We’ve got a lot of single parents in the club, a lot of young mums needing support, and from the senior football groups down to (junior leagues) there’s a great sense of family and support.”

Ten-year-old Ngtaeo Tass often brings friends along to the homework club before heading out afterwards to kick a footy or watch a match. He says his family has been impressed by how his language has improved, but they’re also chuffed because his maths skills are on the up.

“(Family members) say ‘You’ve been doing good in homework, we’ve seen you getting better’,” he said. “And I reckon I’m getting better at maths … division and all that, it’s easier.”

Victorian Aboriginal Affairs Minister Natalie Hutchins, who has been watching the centre closely for more than four years, calls it a hub for integration, as well as a valuable tool to boost social, health and education outcomes in the regional city.

Buoyed by the success of the club in bolstering morale in the local community, as well as boosting learning, health and cultural outcomes, she allocated $23 million in the last budget for construction of a dedicated cultural centre, the Munarra Centre, next door.

The allocation comes as the state is working towards the country’s first state-based treaty with its Aboriginal community, of which a crucial step includes handing more control to the community to run initiatives such as Munarra and Rumbalara that tackle community issues. “Through centres like Mun­arra we see better outcomes for ­Aboriginal Victorians across the board,” Ms Hutchins said.