The St George Illawarra Dragons recently spent some time with some young people from Links to Learning programs including Sydney based St George Youth Services and Wollongong based Southern Youth and Family Services.
St George Youth Services recently paid a visit to WIN Stadium, Wollongong, where they were fortunate enough to watch the first-grade team training.
They also spoke with Mike Cooper and Jason Nightingale as well National Youth Competition team player Andrew McCarthy about goal setting and self-motivation.
The students also had the opportunity to run out onto the field before being taken on a tour through the facilities of WIN Stadium.
"It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity for these young boys to see the inside of an NRL headquarters and watch the NRL side training", said McCarthy.
“We spoke to the boys about goal setting, self-motivation and self-discipline, and the rewards you can get out of life if you do your best in these areas.
“Hopefully they can take some of these skills away from this visit and apply it in their everyday lives.”
Southern Youth and Family Services will be visiting WIN Stadium in the near future following on from a recent visit to SYFS offices, which Dragons Community staff engaged using the NRL Dream Believe Achieve program.
The 'Links to 'Learning' programs at St George Youth services (six years) and Southern Youth and Family Services (nine years) is where players and community staff are involved in the mentoring process with youth who are currently disengaged with school or education.
A total of 431 individuals have been engaged in these programs over the last nine years.
