Footy is much more than just a competition, at the recent Reclink Cardinia game against the Collingwood Magpies to mark NAIDOC Week, it showed the power sport can have in binding people together in recovery and mateship.
The Reclink Cardinia Tigers Football team is an almost decade-old team which participates in the Reclink Victoria Football League that provides sporting opportunities for those doing it tough, whether it be recovering from addiction, as risk of homelessness or battling mental health challenges.
With fortnightly games at the Garfield Recreation Reserve, the game on Wednesday 9 July was a special occasion with the Collingwood Magpies Reclink team to mark NAIDOC Week.
The Collingwood team is the only side officially associated with an AFL team, coached by Victorian Aboriginal Health Services Team Leader, Shane Williams and former North Melbourne and Collingwood player Daniel Wells, the side provides opportunities for youth of socially and economically disadvantaged backgrounds.
The Cardinia Tigers have been significantly supported by Windana Drug & Alcohol Recovery Inc, with many players from their recovery program at the Maryknoll Therapeutic Community.
The six-to-nine-month program at the 77 bed residential facility provides a phased approach with both on and off-site activities to help in recovery and reintegration into the community.
Members of Outlook Australia are also a strong section of the side all-year-round.
Cardinia Tigers is part of the Shire’s Safer Communities Strategic Committee, which aims to take proactive steps in crime prevention and harm reduction from drug and alcohol abuse in the community.
Windana’s Recreation and Development coordinator, Richard Price said the Cardinia Tigers have been a crucial part in building camaraderie among the members of the program and to reintegrating those in recovery.
“They could be quite isolated and stigmatised in their community, but when they come in here, they’re part of our team and everyone calls them their name and they’re on board with the whole thing,” he said.
“Now people are coming through treatment at Windana and then end up playing at some of these local clubs as well.
“So there’s breaking down of the stigma, normalising the whole process, and giving people those social opportunities that they might not have been able to get any other way.”
Dean, a Bunyip Football player, completed Windana’s program recently and he found reconnecting to his roots with footy in Gippsland to be a key part of his recovery.
Before recovery, he found himself in a cycle of substance abuse and incarceration for about a decade.
Toward the end of the program, he went down to Bunyip Football Club, recommended by then local police officer Danny Hower, who has been heavily involved with Cardinia Tigers and is now a support worker with Windana.
“It was really, really hard at first because you’ve got to put yourself out there and say, look, I’m from the rehab and you sort of think there might be a bit of that judgement and stuff like that, but they were unreal,” he said.
“It’s very easy for me to go back to that life if I wanted to because I feel comfortable in it and I have that network of people around me.
“Whereas this just gives you that platform to create a new pro-social network where everyone’s positive.
“I guess because it’s sport, it feels like there’s not that much judgement. Everyone is welcome, and we sort of benefit from each other as well.”
Not only was Dean’s initiative met with acceptance, but he was surprised to see that many people in the community opened up to him about their own struggles with mental health and addiction.
Country footy is known for its drinking culture, but at Bunyip, the club has been completely accommodating to Dean and other members’ sobriety.
One of the most difficult factors in recovery, especially for those who have done time, is rejoining the workforce.
Dean found his fellow players telling him they were more than willing to get him work and today he has a secure job between footy activities.
Dean is still active at training and the games of the Cardinia Tigers, there he leads others in the program around finding their ways of reintegrating and building a positive network.
“I just sort of promote to the guys that are in the program, make the program your own,” he said.
“If you want to join a soccer club or whatever, go down and join it because you get so much growth out of it and so much benefit from it.
“If you walk out of the rehab and you have nothing to go to, then you’re going to go back to doing what you were doing.”
Windana does many outward activities in the program, the centre is a working farm and they involve themselves in other groups such as local Landcare.
The Reclink Cardinia Tiger Football Club meets every Wednesday at the Garfield Recreation Reserve at 11am, with training and games rotating on a fortnightly basis.
You can learn more about Reclink at reclink.org
To learn more about Windana Drug & Alcohol Recovery Inc go to windana.org.au
