STUDENTS at Tea Gardens Public School (TGPS) were inspired by the presence of Olympic archer Matthew Gray, who presented the ‘Olympics Unleashed’ program to Years 2-6 on Friday 16 May.
This was the first time the program had been run at Tea Gardens, after successfully being offered to metro schools in previous years.
“The Australian Olympic Committee engages with students in Australia to unleash their passion,” said Matthew, who hails from Nelson Bay.
“It does not have to be sport or art – diversity, resilience and opportunity are important.
“The Olympics Unleashed program started just before the Tokyo Games, and was originally aimed at Year 9 students, but it has been expanded to benefit many more.”
Students discussed and identified themes relevant to Olympians’ journeys, such as “never give up” and “it’s ok if you don’t win”, dealing with disappointment, bravery and commitment.
“You need to be able to rely on your friends and family for their support,” Matthew told the children.
He also shared anecdotes from his personal experience.
“A windy day taught me how to ‘stay in the moment’, not hold onto failures, and not blame everyone else for something I had done wrong – things mightn’t go your way, so you have to bounce back,” Matthew told the kids.
Matthew’s Olympic journey took him to Atlanta 1996, Sydney 2000 and Beijing 2008.
He also competed at the New Delhi Commonwealth Games in 2010, where he achieved the long-dreamt goal of gold in a nail-biting face-off with the local favourite.
A strong theme of the presentation was goal-setting, which Matthew returned to frequently.
“In 2008, I had a baby girl and a job. I had to juggle that to achieve my goal of attending a third Olympics.”
Some of the kids got to try on Matthew’s old Olympic and Commonwealth Games uniforms, each one designed for the environment of the host city, and covered in important symbolism to remind him of home.
TGPS student Owen Dennis was lucky enough to try out Matthew’s archery bow, which requires significant strength to pull back.
“I got stronger when the room was cheering and clapping,” Owen said.
TGPS Principal Mark Clemson told NOTA the program was a “fabulous opportunity for students at Tea Gardens to aspire to set goals and achieve”.
By Thomas O’KEEFE
