Rio Olympic Basketballer Natalie Burton and aspiring Olympian and West Australian Institute of Sport water polo athlete Luci Marsh toured Geraldton earlier this month, a region in WA which was ravaged by cyclone Seroja in April this year.
The pair visited seven schools throughout the region and numerous sporting clubs and community centres, inspiring youth to create the best versions of themselves.
Olympics Unleashed, presented by Optus, connects students with the unique stories of athletes and their journeys, helping young people to understand the value of goal setting, how to overcome challenges and build critical self-confidence.
Both Nat and Luci have unique stories to tell, and they openly shared their journey to the Games and their success, but also the important lessons they have learned from failures along the way.
They pair toured the region during the closing days of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, the perfect time to talk about the highlights of the Olympics.
“Olympics Unleashed is an initiative where we go out to regional and metro areas in Western Australia and we chat about our own personal experiences through our sport, with the idea that we are getting the messages across [to] the kids about the things that helped us in sport but also with the understanding that it’s not just about sports, it’s about any areas of the kids’ lives," Burton said.
The Regional Manager for the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries, Angele Grey, reflected on community life in Geraldton and the impact of the program at such a critical time for the community.
“It’s fantastic to have the Olympics Unleashed program out here in the Midwest particularly where sports are a really big part of community life," Grey said.
"I think one of the wonderful things that the athletes do is they talk not just about their sporting journeys but also their ups and downs and how the challenges they go through apply to general life, which is really important for everyone to be exposed to and to talk about.
“In this particular area in the Midwest, we’ve just had a cyclone affect the area and the farming community is doing it pretty tough, so it’s a wonderful motivating factor for the community to have these athletes out here to just give them a bit of an uplift.”
Olympics Unleashed, presented by Optus, is a new initiative in Western Australia and is a partnership between the Australian Olympic Committee and the Western Australian Government. The program was developed in consultation with the Western Australian Department of Education and Department of Sport.
