Friday December 9, 2022
Macarthur FC celebrates a major milestone in its community outreach program, improving the health and wellbeing of more than 50,000 kids through its Bulls In Schools program.
Since beginning in 2019, the club has played a significant role in promoting healthy lifestyles and inclusivity through football across the entire South West Sydney region and today celebrates a landmark moment of its first community program.
The Bulls In Schools program visits local schools, running training drills, education sessions with a core emphasis on health, physical activity and the benefits of an active lifestyle.
Despite the disruptions of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Bulls have been a positive force throughout the community with a key focus of promoting social inclusion, particularly with youth.
Bulls In Schools has been at the forefront of Macarthur FC’s diversity focus, with eight per-cent of the participants in the program identifying as Indigenous Australians and 59 per-cent of participants speaking English as their second language.
“Community is at the heart of everything we do at Macarthur FC and it gives me great pride to say that we have had more than 50,000 kids from our region participate in our Bulls in Schools program,” Macarthur chairman Gino Marra said.
“We are the only professional football club on the planet to begin life during the COVID-19 pandemic which significantly hampered many of our operations, in particular our community programs.”
“COVID-19 restrictions limited our interaction with the community in South West Sydney, preventing us from visiting local sporting clubs and schools. However, the pandemic didn’t deter us from our commitment to our region. At every opportunity, we remained active in our community and it gives me immense pride to see the positive response and participation in our Bulls in Schools program.”
The Bulls In Schools program is run by the club but is supported by Macarthur Square and Campbelltown City Council.
“Another great initiative by Macarthur FC. The Bulls in Schools programs promotes health and young being among young people, as well as inclusion and reconciliation,” NSW member for Campbelltown, Greg Warren, said. “I am looking forward to seeing this program grow from strength to strength.”
The program is part of the club’s broad community focus, operating in conjunction with training clinics with local member associations and cultural diversity partnerships.
“I congratulate Macarthur FC for reaching a major milestone of over 50,000 participants through their community-building program Bulls In Schools,” Member for Camden Peter Sidgreaves said.
“The Bulls In Schools program encourages students to be active and promotes a healthy lifestyle while also developing life skills including communication and teamwork.”
”I thank Macarthur FC for their engagement with the local community and schools through their free to students Bulls In Schools program.”
