THE Miniroos children\u2019s soccer program is returning to the Ballarat Regional Soccer Facility these July school holidays.<\/p>\n
Facilitated by the Ballarat Regional Multicultural Council and Football Victoria, kids between six and 13 years of age from culturally diverse backgrounds are invited along to get moving, meet other young people, and learn about the world game.<\/p>\n
Coach and BRMC team member Lunorphare Folly said the basic skills clinics will run on Friday, 2 and Friday, 9 July from 11am to 12.30pm.<\/p>\n
Soccer player and refugee Hakeem al-Araibi is returning to Ballarat and will support those involved in the 2 July session.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe children will work on basic individual skills like the proper ways to dribble, juggle, and how to take a good first touch,\u201d Folly said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe main element of the sessions will be our mini games, with five versus five games and six versus six games. We want to get them game-based as much as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n
Running the Miniroos clinics throughout 2020 and into the early part of this year, Folly said the series has been successful, attracting a lot of interest from multicultural young people, while strengthening and enriching some of the district\u2019s soccer clubs.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo meet the criteria, you need to be from a diverse background, or have a parent that is from a diverse background, because those young multicultural people don\u2019t typically get into the mainstream clubs until they\u2019re a lot older.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith the help of programs like Miniroos, we are seeing that start to shift. It\u2019s a small but very positive change,\u201d Folly said.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven at my soccer club, the amount of diverse people that have recently come in at an earlier age are much younger than the club\u2019s ever had.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s definitely working, we just need to continue to get the word out to more multicultural young people that there are opportunities, and we can offer bridges into club sport where they can make even more new friends, and play every weekend.\u201d<\/p>\n