Disadvantaged Aboriginal youth empowered by snow sports camps this winter. tickets to National Press Club launch available now.
The Australian Indigenous Alpine Sport Foundation (AIASF) is delighted to announce the Launch of the Foundation and their “Cool Walkings” program at the National Press Club in Canberra on June 2.
The AIASF will be announcing the success of their inaugural snow camp program for disadvantaged Aboriginal youth from urban, regional and remote Australia and celebrating the success and achievements of Australia’s first Indigenous Winter Athlete, Mikayla George, who will be the “Guest of Honour”.
Mikayla George is a Wurundjeri/Wiradjuri girl. She is 16 and attends Melbourne Girls College studying Year 11. In November 2014, Mikayla retired from gymnastics after 13 dedicated years due to a back injury. However, in January 2015 Mikayla discovered trampolining and tumbling and by May she became the Australian U17 National Tumbling Champion.
Through the Victorian Institute of Sport’s ‘Spin to Win’ program Mikayla was identified as a potential aerial skier and in July attended a ski camp at Mt Buller (her first time seeing snow) and was announced as a team member for the Australian Aerial Skiing Development squad by October. Mikayla is the first ever Indigenous athlete in the Winter Olympic program and hopes to be our first Indigenous Winter Olympian.
The June 2 National Press Club event will be hosted by local media identity Tim Shaw with presentations by prominent Aboriginal figures Dr Colin Dillon AM APM, Marcia Ella-Duncan AM, and Angel John Gallard as well as AIASF Chair Ken Randall AM. Tickets are $95 and available for purchase online.
The Australian Indigenous Alpine Sport Foundation (AIASF) is a not for profit Foundation aiming to promote participation in Alpine Sports by disadvantaged Aboriginal youth to achieve better outcomes, improve their quality of life and empower Aboriginal youth across Australian Aboriginal communities using Alpine Sports as a fundamental tool for excellence.
AIASF promotes winter and summer activities including skiing, snowboarding, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, trekking, abseiling, climbing and team/trust exercises.
The overall objective is to provide a pathway to positive outcomes for Aboriginal youth using Winter and Summer Alpine sports as a tool for excellence and giving outstanding participants the every opportunity to succeed, train and participate at the competitive level.
The program is an engagement program aimed at support a whole range of inequity issued faced by Aboriginal Australians such as; mental health, school disengagement, health, education, workplace pathways, access etc. The aim is to address these issues whilst continuing to build student engagement with schools and community, mentors, teachers, liaison offers, peers and coaches.
The AIASF ran their first indigenous youth camp last year and are preparing for the next set of camps for 2016. The camps are fully funded through donations and allow disadvantaged Indigenous youth the opportunity to travel to the snow (Thredbo, NSW) and engage in ski/snowboard training, team building and mentoring.
The AIASF will also be launching a fundraising online Auction, and a crowd funding website which will be promoted via their “Cool Walkings” program to support Mikayla with her Olympic dream.
AIASF is registered with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission as a Public Benevolent Institution and has Deductible Gift Recipient status from the Australian Taxation Office so all donations over $2 are tax deductible.
For more information visit the AIASF website.
