League kicks off Harmony celebrations

More than 500 girls and boys will participate in Harmony Celebration Clinics at Leichhardt Oval in Sydney’s west tomorrow as Rugby League kicks off 10 days of activities celebrating its cultural diversity.

In keeping with the National Harmony Day theme “Sport - Play, Engage, Inspire”, Rugby League activities will include Indigenous, Greek and Irish dancing and Calypso and West African drumming bands as part of pre-game NRL match entertainment this weekend and a Harmony Gala Day at Bass Hill next week for more than 100 children, including Sudanese and African refugees.

Australian Rugby League Commission Chief Executive, Mr David Gallop, said Rugby League was very supportive of the Australian Government’s Harmony Day initiative on Wednesday week, March 21, to celebrate Australia’s cultural diversity, community participation, inclusiveness and respect.

“Harmony Day represents the same values that are important to our game,” said Mr Gallop.

“Cultural diversity in Rugby League extends from our players to our fans and we have a number of great initiatives and programs at all levels of our games that promote community participation and inclusiveness for all Australians.”

Rugby League is at the forefront of Australian sport with programs such as the Harvey Norman Rugby League All Stars which has raised more than $4.5million over the past three years for inclusive community programs and initiatives, with a particular focus on Indigenous programs and outcomes that directly respond to identified community-need.

Prior to the 2012 season kicking off, NRL players and Rugby League Ambassadors also delivered health and literacy messages to more than 115,000 children across Australia and New Zealand in 24 days as part of the game’s annual Community Carnival.

The NRL also ran a ground-breaking Pacific Studies Cultural Leadership Camp in January to further develop senior and up-and-coming NRL players of Pacific heritage as leaders in their respective clubs and communities. Pacific players represent almost 30 per cent of the NRL player roster.

Other ground-breaking initiatives include the NSW Rugby League’s Multicultural Program to assist and promote integration and social inclusion of newly arrived migrants and young refugees and their families into schools and communities.

Next month a Harmony 9s (nine-a-side) Rugby League carnival will be held at Redfern Oval involving Maori, Indigenous, Mediterranean, Samoan, Tongan and African teams.

Following is a summary of Rugby league’s 2012 Harmony Day activities over the next 10 days: