Triathlon Victoria has continued to take multisport and the water safe message to schools across Melbourne and regional Victoria to help build participation and support the Play it Safe by the Water message.
This season, Triathlon Victoria’s participation team have been actively conducting school visits which has seen over 1,000 primary aged kids introduced to triathlon and exposed to water safety education.
The initiative saw 12 primary school activations at locations close to a local triathlon event, including Loddon Mallee (Bendigo), Barwon South West (Geelong), Melbourne Metro (Moonee Ponds) and Bayside Peninsula (Mordialloc, St Kilda, Brighton, South Melbourne, Chelsea and Edithvale),
Each activation consisted of four 30-minute sessions, with students between years three to six learning about all things triathlon. Student groups were taken through several activities to stimulate the elements of a race. Aquathlons, duathlons and triathlons were all up for discussion, and the ins and outs of the sport explained. The importance of water safety was also discussed and encouraged, together with information about upcoming triathlons in the local area.
In Bendigo, and ahead of the TreX Goldfields and the Bendigo Kids Triathlon, the team visited four schools with a total of 357 students engaged.
Throughout the Bayside Peninsular region, and ahead of the several races, 436 students participated over five schools; while down in Geelong, another two school visits came before the 2020 IRONKIDS Geelong and another 94 students involved. Moonee Ponds was a new addition to the season calendar ahead of the Queens Park Triathlon, with 113 students at a single school.
Aligning school activations with upcoming races allows Triathlon Victoria to support Race Directors further by promoting their local event and provides an engaging platform to introduce students to multisport.
It takes a team of dedicated individuals to hit the road and take triathlon into schools. This season we were grateful to have the support of Harry Mezger and Adam Beckworth who put their hand up to assist with our sessions.
Harry, who’s from Inclusive Sports Training, joined the team and shared plenty of stories and tips from his experience as a triathlete. He also received a few hard-hitting questions from students.
Adam, who is the owner and head coach at Beckworth Racing, assisted at the Geelong based school visits. The sessions provided Adam and Beckworth Racing with an excellent opportunity to promote the club’s services to the local community.
Now, we look to planning out our 2020-21 school season calendar, which we hope will be bigger and better!
To recommend a school that may be keen to get involved in our sessions, or, if you’re a member club who would like to express their interest in being part of local school visits, please email us at admin@vic.triathlon.org.au.
To learn more about triathlon in schools, please see the get involved section of the Triathlon Victoria website.
