By William Zwar
While this Saturday sees the return of local football in the west, it will also mark the inaugural Blue Match between the Glen Orden and Sunshine Heights Football Clubs.
Travelling 50,000 kilometres across Australia to promote mental health awareness, the Beyond Blue Roadshow approached the Glen Orden Football Club to see if they were happy to host the Blue Bus during season 2015.
Identified by South Western Melbourne Medicare Local as a key healthcare issue in the Wyndham and Hobsons Bay Region, Glen Orden Treasurer Justin Menzel said that the club was more than happy to help raise awareness in the community.
“As a local club, we have a social responsibility to do things to help the community.
“We’ve done similar things in the past helping our the Cancer Council and other various causes so we thought this would be a great initiative to get behind and support, particularly as our area is prevalent to depression,” Menzel said.
Held at Heathdale Oval, the Blue match event will incorporate three games of football, with the Under 18s to kick off at 9.30am, followed by the reserves at 12pm and seniors at 2.15pm.
Former AFL player, Triple M commentator and founder of The Sunrise Foundation, Wayne Schwass will be in attendance from 1.15pm to talk about mental health and tackling depression.
A variety of activities will also be available, including a handball and goal-kicking competition at 11.15am and 3.30pm, while Big Blue Bus volunteers will be handing out blue wrist bands and information about mental health throughout the day.
At the conclusion of the senior match, attendees can enjoy free finger food, hear from a special beyondblue guest speaker as well as a comedy act Stand up for Mental Health from 5pm in the Glen Orden club rooms.
Together with Beyondblue, the Glen Orden Football Club hopes to educate the local community and raise awareness to let people know that there is help out there.
“Depression is an illness which we know affects a number of people and we think as a club it is our social obligation to help support beyondblue and raise awareness about how to tackle mental health issues,” Menzel said.
“Years ago people would suffer depression in silence, however these days it is a more public issue and there are people who are willing to speak up and help out, so the fact that we can be part of it is great.”
The game itself is important for both teams as they try to kick start their season with a win in the new-look Division Two competition.
For the Hawks, they will be trying to improve on last year’s fourth place ranking and advance into the finals, while the Dragons will be aiming to improve on last season and develop its young list.
New Hawk Leroy Paio will also add intrigue to the clash, after transferring from the Dragons last year, while Sunshine Height’s President Vince Sposato has labelled youngsters Justin Zahra and Tom Murray with “great courage and hunger” as they help to establish the future of the club.
So get on down to Heatherdale Oval, 53-57 Kookaburra Avenue Werribee, this Saturday April 11 to watch three spectacular games, and help kick some goals against mental health!
Follow William on Twitter @zwar_w
Last Modified on 08/04/2015 17:28