Moriarty football program makes impact on Gap targets

The theme for this year’s Indigenous Football Week, 22 to 28 September, is transformation – which is what John Moriarty Football has been about since the first football week in 2016, as an Aboriginal-designed and led youth program targeting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island kids in rural and remote communities.

To help mark the occasion, Deloitte Access Economics research has been released that highlights the transformational impact of the program for young people, improving school attendance and wellbeing.

A key finding is that 72 per cent of students are excited to attend school when JMF sessions are offered, leading to students attending 1-2 days extra each week where previously they had been absent.

John Moriarty Football (JMF) is an award-winning initiative that harnesses the power of football to positively engage Indigenous children and youth aged 2-18 years, supporting education, health, wellbeing and connection to Country.

Allira Toby (Kanolu/Gangulu) with 13-year old Shoshonee White (Garrwa) from Borroloola, NT (photo: Shannon Mason)

The program delivers sessions five to six days a week in schools, at before and after school sessions, holiday clinics and tournaments.

“Just like football changed the trajectory of my life, we designed JMF to positively influence the education, health and wellbeing of Indigenous children and now we have independent proof that it’s working and making a lasting impact,” John, the first Aboriginal footballer to be selected to play for the Socceroos, said.

“JMF has the capacity to transform lives by creating ripples of change that start with ‘a child, a football, a dream’, and flow outwards to impact families, communities and the nation, creating opportunity and unlocking potential.”

From a pilot program in Borroloola with 120 children almost a decade ago, the program now reaches more than 5000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children annually in 15 public schools in 17 remote and regional communities in NT, Qld and NSW.

John Moriarty (Yanyuwa), Shadeene Evans (Marra) and Ros Moriarty.

“JMF has been highly effective in engaging young people in some of the most complex communities in Australia where disengagement is typically high.” Deloitte Access Economics Partner, Lachlan Smirl, said.

“It’s elevating student pathways for academic success, creating employment and training opportunities for local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander coaches, and it’s helping to create more long-term stability in communities.”

Former A-Leagues player and program Ambassador, Allira Toby (Kanolu/Gangulu), said Bbeing a holistic program, JMF was positively impacting 10 of the Closing the Gap targets.

“At a time when national progress towards these targets is going backwards we are making vital impacts in areas like education, health, employment, digital inclusion, mental health and youth justice,” she said.

John Moriarty Football participants from Tennant Creek.

“An impact the Deloitte Access Economics research highlights, that I’m very proud of, is how JMF inspires girls and women to engage with football, especially those in remote communities who typically have low engagement with sport.

“JMF creates safe spaces for girls and women to participate in football and we are proactive about gender equality. The results speak for themselves as 60 per cent of our participants are girls and 43 per cent of our coaches are women.

“In the disadvantaged communities we deliver in, the social impacts for this can be far reaching, for instance, positively impacting family violence prevention as JMF creates a culture of respect.”

For more information on IFW visit www.indigenousfootballweek.org.au

For more information on JMF visit www.jmf.org.au