Hundreds of students got a colourful reminder about the importance of education when the annual NPA Colour Run was held at Yusia Ginau Oval in Bamaga. Photo: Facebook (NPA Sports).
About 250 students in the Northern Peninsula Area (NPA) had a colourful lesson about the importance of education last week.
AFL Cape York returned to the NPA on 13 August to host its annual No School, No Play football, barbecue and Colour Run event, with fancy footwork, strong ball skills and explosions of colour par for the course.
AFL Cape York game development co-ordinator Kieran Sciberras said while the afternoon at Bamaga’s Yusia Ginau Oval was all about fun, there had been a strong underlying message tied to the activities.
“In the lead-up to the event each year, we have students and staff from AFL Cape York House come up and visit all the NPA schools in Bamaga and Injinoo,” he said.
“A big part of that is to promote that message that you have to go to school every day.
“And then they tell the kids, while they’re running the clinics, to come down to the oval after school and have a Colour Run and a barbecue and a kick around.”
Mr Sciberras said the overwhelming turnout demonstrated the initiative was playing a vital role in school attendance in the NPA.
“I reckon we had 250 kids from all the five communities just jumping in Troopies and getting dropped at the oval to enjoy the day,” he said.
