Referred to as a Deadly Minds Matter Community Event, this event celebrated what the Shooting Stars participants had learned throughout the 10-week Deadly Minds Matter program run within Shooting Stars Health and Wellbeing sessions at school with a focus on mental health and social and emotional wellbeing.
At the event, participants from the Morawa and Mullewa Shooting Stars sites were joined by Stars Foundation participants from Geraldton Senior High School and Deadly Sista Girlsz from Champion Bay Senior High School.
There was a round robin netball carnival, but the day was about much more – it was a celebration of culture, community and empowerment.
The day commenced with a Welcome to Country from Donna Ronan, who emphasised the significance of attendees from different communities coming together.
The crowd was then introduced to a special guest – one of the most high-profile Indigenous female athletes on the scene at the moment, Donnell Wallam. The Stella Athlete and Australian Diamonds netball star mingled with participants throughout the day, sharing pro tips, signing autographs, and spending plenty of time getting photos with everyone in the photo booth.
A big part of the Deadly Minds Matter Community Events, is the opportunity to invite local health service providers to come along and set up a stall to run activities, share information and engage with everyone. The purpose of this is to build familiarity and make it easier for young people to reach out to these services if and when they are needed.
At the Midwest event, there were stalls from Ngala, Geraldton Regional Aboriginal Medical Service (GRAMS), Aboriginal Family Legal Services, WA Centre for Rural Health (WACRH) Murdoch Chiro Clinic for the grown-ups, and Headspace Geraldton. There was an art therapy station with sensory and creative activities, a collaborative painted canvas, hair braiding with Braids By Zem, and there were a range of other guests including the Geraldton Police, Stephen Michael Foundation, Youth Fusion and Geraldton Sporting Aboriginal Corporation (GSAC).
To end the day, there was a students vs service providers netball match, with Donnell helping the students out as their Goal Shooter. Then to wrap things up, trophies were awarded to participants from each school. However, award winners were not selected based on goals, winning or athletic performance – as announced at the beginning of the event, the award judges were looking out for effort, leadership and sportsmanship.
Shooting Stars Midwest Regional Manager, Lauren Seelander commented on the success of the day:
“This was our first Deadly Minds Matter Community Event in the Midwest and I don't want to brag, but I think it was pretty good! Everyone commented on it how well it went and everyone asked ‘can we do it again next year?’ So obviously it went well.”
There were approximately 60 participants involved between the three school-based engagement programs, and there was a fantastic turnout of spectators, with friends, family and community members coming along to show their support and join the fun.
“An event like this really brings everyone together – the community comes together for it. It was special having some of the Elders there supporting. Also, the communities from Morowa and Mullewa coming in as well, not just Geraldton. I think that brings the biggest impact, having that support from everybody in the Community, because you can't do events like this unless you've got that support.”
