The Cronulla Sharks have reaffirmed their commitment to the health of the Shire's First Nations communities by training in the 2024 range of Sharks-Deadly Choices health check shirts leading into tomorrow's crucial home game against the Panthers.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture will be celebrated as part of this weekend's NRL Indigenous Round, with the Sharks hosting a community day at their captain's run at PointsBet Stadium on Friday morning to engage with the local community, facilitate health check bookings and launch their renewed partnership with preventative health program Deadly Choices.
Deadly Choices aims to empower Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to eat nutritious food, be physically active, quit smoking or vaping and connect with their local Community Controlled Health Service for a 715 Health Check.
And who better to oversee the Sharks and Deadly Choices announcement than Gamilaroi, Dunghutti and Gumbaynggirr man Preston Campbell, a former Sharks fan favourite and current Deadly Choices Ambassador.
"Through supporting the Deadly Choices program, the Sharks have the opportunity to deliver some important messages to Mob around living a healthy lifestyle," confirmed Campbell.
"By talking about their own journeys, Sharks players can also inspire, motivate and empower younger community members.
"At the end of the day, it's all about community."
The Deadly Choices and Sharks partnership is unique in that it enables a program officer to be based at the Sharks and deliver Deadly Choices education programs to the Shire community.
Jada Taylor, a proud Gamilaroi woman and Sharks NRLW player, has been delivering the Deadly Choices education program to local First Nations students for over two years. The program has seen high rates of engagement and positive outcomes across a plethora of schools.
Sharks CEO Dino Mezzatesta is equally proud of the empowering impact the club has had on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities across the past six years via the ongoing three-way partnership between Sharks Have Heart, Deadly Choices and the Central and Eastern Sydney Primary Health Network (PHN) through the local Vitalis Family Medical Practice.
"It was lovely to see so many people turning out this morning for what is a very important week in Indigenous Round, but more importantly for our partnership with Deadly Choices and the work that goes into it," Mezzatesta said.
"And that's not just one week; that's a full-year, ongoing commitment.
"It's such an important partnership with Deadly Choices and it's so critical to what we do. We are very thankful for the partnership and contribution that we have."
For more information, visit https://deadlychoices.com.au/
