Penrith Panthers and Parramatta Eels will blitz Western Sydney classrooms tomorrow (Monday, February 23) as part of the NRL’s Community Carnival.
The full squads from both Clubs will visit a phenomenal 34,500 students in over 100 schools throughout suburbs including Mt Druitt, Parramatta, St Clair and Erskine Park.
The players will be delivering this year’s community message of “Wellbeing”, focussing on everything from nutrition and healthy eating, to regular exercise and mental health.
Joining the Panthers and Eels in visits on Monday will be Sydney Roosters, who will visit more than 2,100 students in 13 schools throughout the Eastern Suburbs.
The Darling Downs town of Chinchilla, Queensland, will receive a visit from NRL Community Ambassadors Alan Tongue, Michael Crocker and Luke Bailey, reaching 24 schools over three days (Monday 23 – Wednesday 25 February).
NRL Community Ambassadors Nathan Merritt, Mario Fenech and Andrew Ryan will visit the New England region over three days (Monday 23 – Wednesday 25 February). The Ambassadors will see more than 5,400 students in towns including Inverell, Tingha and Bingara.
Next week will also see the Community Carnival reach Western Australia, with Rugby League legends Dallas Johnson, Terry Lamb and Steve Turner spending three days (Wednesday 25 – Friday 27 February) in Perth. The trio will visit more than 4,200 students in 10 schools and attend the launch of the 2015 Western Australia Rugby League season.
Now in its 15th year, the Community Carnival (February 2 through to February 27) is expected to reach a staggering 250,000 kids across 300 towns and 900 schools, and deliver 80 Junior League clinics.
Players are armed with teaching resources endorsed by the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA), which demonstrate how important nutrition, physical activity and mental health is to overall wellbeing.
Students are also being encouraged to become more involved in Rugby League through the playNRL.com portal.
