Two outstanding Hockey NSW players from the Athlete Acceleration Program were interviewed on Saturday, for an upcoming story on Channel Seven News about the Don’t Mess with Drugs Foundation Program. Claudia Johnston from Kirrawee, and
Two outstanding Hockey NSW players from the Athlete Acceleration Program were interviewed on Saturday, for an upcoming story on Channel Seven News about the Don’t Mess with Drugs Foundation Program.
Claudia Johnston from Kirrawee, and Annika Toohey from Port Macquarie, were two of the fifty female athletes from the Athlete Acceleration Program that undertook the DMWD Education Program on Saturday at the NSW Hockey Centre at Sydney Olympic Park. Fifty five male athletes from the Athlete Acceleration Program also completed Lessons 1 and 2 on Sunday.
Claudia Johnston thought the program was extremely beneficial: “This is a proactive attempt to help sportswomen and sportsmen to make smarter decisions in relation to drugs, it tries to prevent the problem before it becomes one. Athletes have so much to lose if they make a bad decision to take drugs, it can ruin your career before it even
starts.”
Annika Toohey believes a program such as Don’t Mess with Drugs is a must for her town Port Macquarie: “Young people and athletes need guidance and a support network when it comes to dealing with drugs. They are easily influenced unless they are educated to deal with the problem. This program provides confidence to say no when required. For athletes like myself who come from all over NSW, this is a great opportunity for us, we can talk about the program back home.”
The two NSW State Hockey players were involved in a camp with players from all over NSW converging on Homebush for the event.
Richard Willis, the Player Pathway Manager for Hockey NSW was also interviewed and
he sang the praises of the DMWD Education Program.
“I am always looking for ways to improve player welfare, this program does exactly that. It is a great initiative and one that Hockey NSW fully supports and endorses. Athletes in our program need to be fully aware and educated so that they can make well thought out decisions which will impact on their future careers”. We think it is a great fit for what we are trying to achieve.”
Brent Plimpton the Community Services Manager was interviewed by Channel Seven on behalf of the Don’t Mess with Drugs Foundation. “Getting the message out nationally, encouraging athletes and people to take responsibility for their decisions and then become role models, is the essence of what we are trying to achieve. We are addressing the drug problem at grass roots level. This will help the NSW Government because if effective, it will lead to less government spending because young athletes and people are thinking for themselves and making smarter decisions.”
The Don’t Mess with Drugs Program was presented by Chloe Kerr who is a teacher of sport education. Her strong sporting background in gymnastics and netball makes her the ideal educator for the program. The up and coming hockey stars of the future will complete Lesson three and the program on the weekend of December 16 and 17. Don’t Mess with Drugs Foundation Chairman Daniel Prasad was over the moon with the success of the pilot program and of course the attendance of Channel Seven News. “This is a wonderful endorsement and support of what we are trying to achieve with DMWD. I am especially pleased that these Acceleration Program athletes from all over the state effectively become Ambassadors for our program.”
Once the Don’t Mess with Drugs Foundation is aware of when the story will air on Channel Seven News we will publicise it on the website. Clearly the DMWD program is having an impact in a very short period of time. Pilot one was shown on Fox Sports News recently. Now, Pilot two is being seen on Channel Seven News.