On Thursday 29 August, Sporties CEO Jeff Gibbs and the Community Partnerships team visited Heroes With Ability (HWA) at Nuwarra Public School, to present them with a ClubGRANTS cheque for $20,000.
HWA is a not-for-profit organisation that promotes inclusive sporting opportunities for young people with physical and mental disabilities.
This funding will allow HWA to run their school sport’s programs for approximately 100 students in the Liverpool LGA, including more than a dozen students at Nuwarra PS.
Classroom teacher Anu Thakur says the HWA program has been a gamechanger for them.
“The kids in these classes struggle with gross motor and fine motor skills, so this program is really helpful in developing those skills. And what they’re learning on the playground with Heroes With Ability is actually helping us with their classroom learning too. They’re learning hand-eye coordination; to listen to instructions and follow rules… they absolutely love it!”
Classroom teacher Evi Giameos says the program is having an impact across the school.
“It’s also helping the kids to integrate with the mainstream students which is something that’s really important to us, making sure that we have that inclusive education happening across the school. Learning those skills in a smaller group and then using them with the rest of the school has been great”.
Heroes With Ability co-founder Marco Quintao says he is immensely grateful to Sporties for extending their funding.
“We’re running our program for about 15-20 kids at Nuwarra and it really has been so well-received. Working with the teachers, we try to always challenge the kids and get them out of their comfort zone, which can be really hard for children with special needs. But that’s the great thing about sport – it can get them to try new things and learn new skills in a fun way”.
Heroes With Ability co-founder George Tonna says the biggest difference he’s seen in the kids, has been their confidence.
“When we first started, they weren’t lining up properly and they weren’t really engaged with the program because they didn’t know what it was about. Now, they’re jumping over hurdles, kicking balls, having fun, and they’re working as a team.”
