ABC News (Australia) published this video item, entitled “Indigenous youth organisation recognised with health award | ABC News” – below is their description.
Timmy Duggan became the first person from the Northern Territory to play in the National Basketball League, debuting for the Gold Coast Rollers in 1996.
As his pro-basketball career was coming to an end, Duggan started setting up community basketball matches to promote exercise and healthy living.
Duggan said family health concerns and seeing his grandfather dying young pushed him to set up Hoops 4 Health.
“It really impacted me, you know, at a young age seeing my grandfather pass away pretty early on in his life” he said.
“I thought I’d combine those two. The health and the basketball.”
Hoops 4 Health now employs eight coaches and 20 volunteer coaches, and has worked with around 10,000 young people across the Northern Territory, including in remote communities.
Duggan said the Indigenous staff are able to tap into their First Nations knowledge and experiences to create a culturally safe space, using basketball as a vehicle.
The organisation also holds regular sessions at the Don Dale Youth Detention Centre and the adult prison on Darwin’s outskirts.
“It’s all about that hope, providing hope and inspiration, saying we’re not perfect, you know, but we’d rather you come here than when it’s too late.” Duggan said.
Hoops 4 Health offers its young attendees calmness circles to reflect on behaviour and decision making.
It’s this work that has seen Hoops 4 Health recognised with a National Rural and Remote Health Award, with its innovative approach in supporting Indigenous youth — particularly kids at risk — winning Dedication to Health in a Remote Location.
Duggan said being nominated for the award was recognition their work was creating a lasting impact.
“We’re not just walking into a 9-to-5 job where [we’re] sitting down behind the desk,” he said.
“We’re actually getting out there with real impact, lifelong impact and changes that can impact over not just now, but in the future generations as well.”
Sisters Yvonne, 15, and CJ, 17, have been at Hoops 4 Health for the past five years.
For CJ it’s a place that makes her feel comfortable and can help kids who are struggling.
“It’s a place where younger youth can come in and feel free to learn about health and also be able to play sports at the same time,” she said.
“Gets younger kid to our community and especially youth crimes and that gets them out of that, those troubles and gets them to learn healthy, how to live healthy and also be playing sports as well.”
Yvonne said she’s been playing basketball since she was nine, which helped her pick up some valuable lessons on and off the court.
“I really enjoyed it … it’s not about like basketball, it’s about health as well.
“Teaching us about resilience and all of that. I like talking to the kids, and just doing activities with the kids.”
Kitesha Wurrawilya knows first-hand the impacts of Hoops 4 Health.
She was a participant when she was 20 years old and became a facilitator in Groote Eylandt, more than 600 kilometres from Darwin off the coast of northern Australia.
She’s since left the organisation, but has seen and experienced how it helps to engage with the community.
“Out on Groote Eylandt, we have a low school attendance,” she said.
“So it was good to have the children incorporated into the program.
“It was really cool to see that it was impacting community. And there was a lot of participation.
“It’s good and impactful to have these programs out there because the youth don’t have too much to do out there,” she said.
“Like, myself, as a young youth, there is a lot of young talent out there that you know, are in sport, but they don’t get the opportunity.”
Until now Hoops 4 Health has been run from existing facilities, but last month it celebrated the opening of a dedicated centre in north Palmerston that Duggan hopes will be a permanent training base for healing-centred sport.
ABC News (Australia) YouTube Channel
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