Lions players today visited seven schools across Brisbane as part of the Club’s official launch of the Lion Hearted Leaders leadership program for 2013.
The program, which aims to introduce and develop leadership principles in school-aged children, was introduced in 2012 and will this year be delivered to over 1,400 students in 19 schools across Queensland.
The program centres on the leadership principles of mateship and inclusion and was developed personally by the Brisbane Lions players in conjunction with Club and AFLQ staff.
Lions Vice Captain Tom Rockliff was on hand today at Graceville State School for their first visit of 2013.
“It’s a great program, and one that both the kids and the players really take to,” Rockliff said.
“It’s something that the players can really identify with, given that we developed the program to be in line with our in-house leadership principles.”
“We saw huge success with the program last year around the schools that we visited, and it really is satisfying to see the enjoyment that the kids get out of it, and the leadership principles that we can see them putting into practice.”
About Lion Hearted Leaders
Lion Hearted Leaders is based on the Brisbane Lions’ in-house leadership principles which are actively demonstrated and practised on a day-to-day basis by coaches and players.
During the 2012 pre-season, Lions players identified a need to increase their presence in schools and junior clubs to broaden their community footprint and contribute to the growth of the game in Queensland.
The idea was formulated to create a leadership program that contributes to a school’s curriculum, and to deliver core leadership principles in a language that is easy for school-aged children to comprehend through the terms “inclusion” and “mateship”.
The program is delivered through a targeted lesson plan presented to students by Lions players, where students participate in goal-setting and action plans before taking to the field to demonstrate what they’ve learned in a practical setting.
