About the NRL’s 2013 Community Carnival
As part of the NRL’s 2013 Community Carnival, players from all 16 clubs will travel more than 40,000km to visit more than 500 schools (both primary and secondary) across Australia, New Zealand, Samoa and Tonga to deliver anti-bullying messages.
This is the 12th year of Community Carnival, with the focus this year on the NRL’s ‘Tackle Bullying’ campaign.
Over a month of activities (from January 31 to February 27), the Community Carnival will see NRL players and Ambassadors take part in a broad range of community visits, including speaking with students at school, visiting hospitals and conducting Junior Rugby League clinics.
NRL players and Ambassadors will reach a record of more than 120,000 students and visit more than 180 towns across the Community Carnival period.
A snapshot of the locations that will be visited as part of the 2013 Community Carnival include:
- The Cowboys will travel 900km west to Mount Isa
- The northernmost location is Cairns (Dragons)
- The westernmost location in NSW is Dubbo (Roosters)
- The southernmost location nationally is Geelong, in Melbourne (Storm)
- Internationally, Samoa is the furthest any club will travel (Warriors).
This annual event is part of Rugby League’s commitment to making a positive difference in the community and speaking out on issues of social significance.
The game’s community programs were internationally recognised last year with Rugby League named the International Governing Body of the Year at the prestigious Beyond Sport Awards in London.
Selected Highlights from the 2013 Community Carnival Schedule
Club |
Activity |
Broncos |
The Broncos will send some of their star players to Callide (near Rockhampton) and South-West Queensland (Toowoomba) to visit regional schools. |
Bulldogs |
The Bulldogs will venture far beyond their home ground of Belmore, travelling 1,400km to Rockhampton QLD to visit students across 18 schools. |
Cowboys |
The Cowboys will travel nine hours west of Townsville to visit remote towns throughout Mount Isa, with players including Tariq Sims visiting schools that rarely get to see their NRL idols. |
Dragons |
The Dragons will travel 2400km to Cairns in North Queensland. |
Eels |
Travelling south, the Eels will visit the Shoalhaven region over three days and visit almost 30 schools. |
Knights |
The Knights will visit both the coastal region of Coffs Harbour and the inland town of Tamworth. |
Panthers |
The full Panthers squad will see almost 40 schools over two days in Bathurst and Orange, visiting more than 12,000 students. |
Rabbitohs |
The Rabbitohs will see 32 schools and 8000 students throughout their three-day visit across the Riverina (NSW). |
Raiders |
Raiders players will head to the South Coast (Merimbula, Cooma, Jindabyne) to visit 4,600 students in two days. |
Roosters |
The Roosters will head west to Condobolin, visiting 14 schools and 5,000 students in two days. |
Sea Eagles |
The Sea Eagles will see 3000 children in the north-west of New South Wales, running Junior Rugby league clinics, visiting schools, a hospital and a PCYC. |
Sharks |
Todd Carney will join several of his Sharks teammates in a visit to Tamworth where they will see 2,400 students across nine schools. |
Storm |
The Melbourne club will travel five hours north-west to Mildura, in order to conduct a skills clinic involving 400 students from 8 schools. |
Titans |
Titans co-captain Nate Myles will join several teammates in visits across the Northern Rivers region. |
Warriors |
The Warriors will make a special visit to Tonga and Samoa to visit schools and conduct skills clinics. |
Wests Tigers |
More than 5000 students in the Southern Highlands will be visited by the Wests Tigers over two days. |
About the 2013 Community Carnival Message – the NRL ‘Tackle Bullying’ campaign
Players and Ambassadors will speak with students to help them to:
- Identify what bullying is and when someone is being bullied.
- Know who to talk to if they are being bullied.
- Learn how to prevent further incidences of bullying.
The NRL has produced a ‘Tackle Bullying’ DVD featuring NRL legends Andrew Ryan, Nathan Hindmarsh, Hazem El Masri and Mario Fenech which empowers students to stand up for themselves and others who are being bullied. The DVD will be played at each classroom visit to inspire students to take action
The players will encourage students to ‘drop a note’ in a special box, giving them a chance to write something positive about their class mates anonymously.
Over the month-long period of Community Carnival, NRL players will distribute anti-bullying resources such as 30,000 anti-bullying wristbands, 25,000 anti-bullying banner pens, 5,000 booklets and 5,000 DVDs.
Key Messages and Facts on Bullying
1 in 4 Australian children are bullied frequently.
Traditional bullying is known to be physically punching / kicking someone or openly teasing them in front of peers.
More covert, or hidden, bullying is on the rise. Covert bullying can include:
- Whispering behind the teacher’s back and note passing
- Social exclusion and rumour spreading
- Cyber bullying (e.g. tormenting someone via SMS, social media or email)
- Repeated hang-up calls
- Publishing someone's personal or embarrassing information online
- Cyber bullying: new technologies and the culture of increased communication have given way to an additional platform for bullying to take place. Cyber bullying is not only more difficult for schools and parents to detect, but also has the capacity to inflict social isolation and ridicule on a much broader scale than traditional bullying.
All facts on bullying taken from the latest Government report on bullying: (2009) Australian Covert Bullying Prevalence Study (ACBPS). Child Health Promotion Research Centre, Edith Cowan University, Perth, commissioned by a project of the Australian Government Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR)
