Topic: Support for all-abilities programs through local sporting organiSations Applicant: Noosa Pirates RLFC & Connect Rugby League Speakers: Liam Anlezark, Danielle Trask, Lachie Debnam

For having us, the honourable Council as Mayor and CEO. I really appreciate your time. So I look furthermore to what Danny was just saying. We partnered with this initiative in 2023 and the impact of that across our club has been pretty immense. On game days, we play the connect games. On senior game days, we also had a couple of opportunities to play down at the Sunshine Coast stadium before the falcons games, and the members were lucky enough with the partnership with the dolphins to play a game in the pre-season down at the Kayo Stadium before the NRL 12, which was pretty amazing, which you'll see in this short film that Danielle will share with you after here. I'd just like to press the point that there's an opportunity for us as a Council to really lead the way in this space. The Gold Coast highlands have got a program, there's a few NRL systems down south that have got programs, but the broncos, the united dolphins haven't got a set program which brings an opportunity to us with our partnerships. Through community and through our connections to really highlight this space and put nurture at the forefront of inclusive sport. The program is for 16 year olds up, so once children come through the Falcons Footy program, that there's nowhere really for them to go, aside from, you know, limited opportunities with programs like connect, and I don't know of another program on the Sunshine Coast that offers the same service. For our general members around the club, our junior members, senior members, general pastors that come to the client, plane, there their to seeing our connect members play and be involved in their spaces and it's really impactful and you'll see a little highlight of this in the short film that we'll share with you afterwards. So so, look what um I've done. As a long-standing Noosa resident, you know, I've been here 35 years, I've been part of the forest for 30 years now. We've got a really good club for a really good brand and I think we're a key part of the community here and I think this connect partnership the park, for Council, for your study holders could be something of hence over the medium to long term and I'd love to see the future planning with setting the table for the in the big infrastructure um, area, you know get that right. That loss leading into the 2032 Olympics and really highlight this space so we can be a leading local government area in this segment of the community so the real star of the show is Lachie so I'll let him jump up and thank you all for your time. Look forward to any questions after we've let go. Thank.

Greetings and salutations, Noosa Council CEO, Mayor Wilkie and Councillors of Noosa. My name is Lockie Debnam. I am a founding buyer of Connect Rugby League and I have been a Noosa resident ever since my birth in 2003. I originally in 2022, mid-2022, Danielle founded Connect Rugby League with Kerrod Walters as the ambassador and we were training at a local Nirimba sports field down there on a Sunday morning we only had five players back then and over the years we have grown and now we have three whole teams, well Noosa's incomplete that's why we're here, but Danielle founded this out. A way for the Falcons Footy rugby league for children with different abilities alumni to continue taking in the sport of rugby league past graduation of the academy and Noosa here has the opportunity to be leading LGA in Queensland in fighting ableism through this Connect Rugby League initiative. With the pirates we can expand the inclusion part of our Different by Nature sort of slogan and be diverse by nature. My hope is that you all take into consideration how inclusive and Noosa can be to everyone beyond the ableism all forms of discrimination because let's face it the system that we all live under has put a lot of people and society in danger. And this could be one of the leading steps in order to challenge that system. All of us want to live in safety and harmony and in peace. All of us. Want to live with the love that we all have in our hearts. But sadly, not all of us can do that right now. Because the system disables a lot of disabled people by not accounting for accessibility, not being inclusive, not implementing strong laws against discrimination, but those are all big steps that we can take in the future, as Liam said, prior to the 2032 Olympics and the Paralympics. As I said in my falcons footy promotion video, in the end, acceptance and love wins. And I hope that rings true for all residents and members of Noosa Shire. Thank you for listening. Thank you.