22 July 2024
Girls from two local rugby league clubs put their teamwork to the test when they attempted the Gallipoli Barracks obstacle course in Brisbane.
The training activity helped players from the West Arana Hills Panthers Rugby League Football Club and the Valleys Diehards Rugby League Football Club test their fitness levels and step out of their comfort zone, while experiencing a taste of Army life.
The session was organised by Warrant Officer Class Two (WO2) Duncan Stamp, a works supervisor from 12th Chief Engineer Works, and was designed to help the girls enhance their teamwork.
“We wanted to create an activity where the players could come together and understand that some things can't be done as an individual – that we often rely on our team to be able to achieve,” WO2 Duncan Stamp said.
“When the girls ran through the obstacle course they realised that they needed to rely on each other.”
Sergeant Darcy Kay, a Pacific Games Olympic weightlifting gold medallist and member of 2nd Health Battalion, ran the girls through a series of warm-up activities then led them through sections of the course.
'The teamwork skills you develop as a soldier and a football player are easy to adapt on the field and off the field.'
Some players from the Brisbane Broncos and Queensland Reds women's teams who are also soldiers participated in the activities with the girls and supported them along the way.
At the conclusion, Captain Jade Pregelj, an AFLW Brisbane Lions player and member of 7th Brigade, spoke to the girls about life in the Army as an elite athlete.
WO2 Stamp said opportunities to interact and encourage young people were valuable on many levels.
“You can't be what you can't see,” he said.
“I think for these young players to be able to meet sportspeople that are playing at an elite level whilst working within the military is something that will inspire them and show them what they could do.”
Brisbane Broncos NRLW player and 2nd Health Battalion medic, Corporal Lauren Dam, spoke to the players about parallels between life in the Army and as an elite sportswoman.
“The teamwork skills you develop as a soldier and a football player are easy to adapt on the field and off the field,” Corporal Dam said.
“You've got to be there to have each other’s back on the sporting field as well as in the barracks environment.”
Arana Hills Panthers Rugby League Football Club player Summer Meis said the players enjoyed the opportunity to work on their fitness while developing their teamwork.
“By working together you can improve yourself as well as improve others in the team,” she said.
“It was good to meet women who are in the Army and also play professional sports, and to hear how the Army supports them to do that.”
