Playing his part: Alastair Clarkson visited Shepparton this week for a number of special presentations.
Photo by
Zac Standish
While headlines swirl regarding the coaching future of four-time AFL premiership mentor Alastair Clarkson, the man himself has been hard at work promoting the game in local communities, delivering a host of presentations in Shepparton this week.
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A proud ambassador of the Tackle Your Feelingsprogram, a free mental health training initiative for community coaches and support staff, Clarkson delivered a special tutorial on Tuesday, May 17.
He then visited the staff at AFL Goulburn Murray and spoke of his experiences in the game on Wednesday afternoon, before finishing his trip with a coaching masterclass called ‘Creating Quality Coaching Environments at Training and on Game Day’.
Hailing from the small regional town of Kaniva in western Victoria, Clarkson is a passionate advocate for country football and explained why it is so important to assist in its rebound from the COVID-19 pandemic.
In his element: Alastair Clarkson addresses the staff at AFL Goulburn Murray on Wednesday.
Photo by
Zac Standish
“Post the pandemic all community sporting competitions got shut down for a good period, and it has just smashed these small towns where the sporting club is such an important hub,” Clarkson said.
“What we need to do is reinvigorate the interest in local sport and reconnect the people back with their sporting clubs and that just takes a bit of time.
“Historically sporting clubs have been such a big part of the community and every young kids upbringing and it is a beautiful part of this country’s culture — so we need to do everything we can to get them back up and running again.”
He said the impact of the past two years on community sport, especially in Victoria has been severe, and holds genuine fear that we may never see a full recovery due to the sharp decline in sports participation among schoolchildren.
Soaking it all in: The crowd at Alastair Clarkson’s Tackle Your Feelings presentation on Tuesday night.
Photo by
Rechelle Zammit
“We are already seeing right around the country the erosion of participation in community sport and that is through the schools, particularly primary schools which is really sad and disappointing,” he said.
“That is now having a flow-on effect into the clubs who are folding or merging with other teams, and we need to do something to stop that trend from happening.
“So if we (prominent AFL figures) can help in any way we will, but at the end of the day we need to recruit as many people as we can and spark that interest back in the game.
Speaking to the community: Alastair Clarkson at his Tackle Your Feelings seminar on Tuesday night.
Photo by
Rechelle Zammit
“This is going to take large numbers to turn this around and arrest the decline in sports participation.”
Understanding that his presence alone was not be enough to fix the pressing issues, Clarkson hoped his presentations would breed a bit of inspiration among the local community.
“Hopefully people just take away some inspiration to tell the stories of their upbringing and how important the connection to community sport has been in their lives,” he said.
“If we can get as many people telling their stories as we can that’s going to inspire the younger generation to want to get involved in their sporting clubs and they will pass that on to the next and so forth.”
