BENDIGO Touch Football Association launched their free four-week Youth in Touch and Switch programs for women and children at the Tom Flood Sports Centre yesterday.<\/p>\n
State project coordinator for the Switch program Tarryn McDowall said the initiative provides women with a safe space to try out a new sport, while having the Youth in Touch Program running alongside it gives mothers the chance to prioritise their own health.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith this program in particular we\u2019re trying to overcome certain barriers by having a program where they can put their kids on and they don\u2019t have to focus on the kids, they can focus on themselves,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re building up women\u2019s confidence in themselves, in their skills, building up that resilience to give it a go. We\u2019re really trying to build up that culture of inclusiveness.<\/p>\n
\u201cOnce people do the program they absolutely love it and they come back again and again.\u201d<\/p>\n
President of the BTFA Olivia Holmes said the Youth in Touch program teaches children equally important skills like teamwork in a beginner friendly environment.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have to learn to share and that\u2019s one of the good things about touch is to do a good play and to score a try sometimes you really do have to rely on other people and work together,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis program is really focussing on building up those younger kids, getting their skills up and their knowledge of the sport and that way it can feed into our competition and then they can play with their parents and friends as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is a family orientated sport especially up here in Bendigo and we do have a lot of families with younger kids waiting to play,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The programs funded by VicHealth will run for another three weeks from 5.30pm on Wednesday nights. More information is available on the Bendigo Touch Footy Facebook page.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
BENDIGO Touch Football Association launched their free four-week Youth in Touch and Switch programs for women and children at the Tom Flood Sports Centre yesterday. State project coordinator for the Switch program Tarryn McDowall said the initiative provides women with a safe space to try out a new sport, while having the Youth in Touch […]<\/p>\n