Young Melburnian Dale Marsh is one of the great success stories to come out of the Collingwood Football Club Foundation’s Barrawarn Program.
One of the club's first school-based trainees, Dale commenced work at the club for one day per week in its community team whilst completing his Certificate II and III in Sport and Recreation under the guidance of program partners AFL SportsReady.
After a few months, Dale furthered his involvement with the club by assisting staff from the VFL team with various duties during the 2013 season.
Hear from Dale Marsh on CollingwoodTV in the video above.
The Barrawarn Program is run by the Collingwood Football Club in partnership with AFL SportsReady and empowers young Indigenous Australians, like Dale, by providing career pathways and opportunities. It allows them to develop vocational skills and attain nationally recognised qualifications whilst working in a wide range of organisations.
The program was launched in 2012, successfully providing educational and employment support for 15 young Indigenous Australians. In 2013 it was greatly expanded due to pivotal support from the Victorian Government and now has 35 indigenous job seekers in full-time employment at partner organisations.
It is envisaged the program will grow further across the coming year.
Dale has come a long way since his first day at Collingwood, and the club is thrilled to see he has developed further, having participated in Nathan Lovett Murray’s Bunjil Music Business Project.
He is also a star player with the Collingwood Knights, a football team in the Reclink competition.
