Obed Karwhin, a 19-year-old refugee from the Ivory Coast who plays for the Wests Tigers, says the Blacktown PCYC Spartans saved his life.
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Last week, the Spartans took home a national award for community development, presented to clubs that go that extra mile to improve the lives of their members.
Many of the Spartans have disruptive lives at home, with family members who may be experiencing drug and alcohol issues. Some come from refugee families with language barriers and socio-economic disadvantage.
"If you can take them out of that environment for a couple of days a week through their training and on the weekends, it shows them what is really happening outside their home," club co-ordinator Steve Warwick says.
Mr Warwick took home the Good Sports "Club of the Year" award earlier this week. The Good Sports program, run by the Australian Drug Foundation, aims to break the link between football and binge drinking. Clubs are encouraged to pursue responsible service of alcohol training, eject intoxicated people from their grounds and reduce their reliance on alcohol-related sponsorship.
Blacktown PCYC has a zero-tolerance policy on drugs and booze, and receives no money from the alcohol industry at all. But that hasn't limited the club's success. From a few dozen members in 2008, it has grown to include 180 players, from four years of age to its most senior team, the under 19s. This year, six teams made the semi-finals and three won their division. The under 11s have won three of their last four grand finals.
Mr Warwick, a retired truck driver from Lalor Park, founded the club to help disadvantaged children in western Sydney. His duties include coaching, driving players to games and running barbecues to raise money for those who can't afford their registration fees. He flew to Melbourne to receive the club's award - it was the 57-year-old's first time in an airplane.
"It was amazing. The take-off was absolutely brilliant," he says. "The best part of it was being way up above the clouds and looking out. It was just so peaceful."