Ladder
Working in partnership with the AFLPA, the Ladder project is a program aimed at reducing the risk of homeless young people. It involves accommodation being set up in Melbourne and Adelaide, with elite athletes involved in mentoring young people. The program is ongoing, with the young person gaining access not only to the elite athlete on a continual basis, but also education around budgeting, driving, cooking and other important skills for ensuring a return to society, secure housing and independent living.

Leading Teams has employed and trained the Mentor Coordinators in charge of the running the respective houses in the two states. We also offer ongoing support to the Mentoring relationship between Mentor Coordinator, Athletes, and the young people involved. By engaging elite athletes, they not only get to participate in a program that has a positive impact on young people who are at risk, but they also gain some extra skills.

TAC Athletes in School Programs / Under 18 TAC Cup teams
Run in conjunction with the TAC, Leading Teams trains and organizes elite athletes to run workshops to senior students in schools. The workshops involve viewing three (3) short films from the TAC MAFMAD competition regarding Road Safety. The theme of each of the films is “Your mate’s life is in your hands”. Through elite athletes sharing their own stories and facilitating the workshop, it delivers the message about Choices and Consequences of risky behaviour.

This program is also run in the Under 18 TAC Cup competition with each club participating in the workshop.

Leading Teams use trained elite athletes to engage the participants in the workshop, which has very positive results. Having athletes share the challenges they have faced in both sport and in life create some worthwhile discussion. We find the confidence the athletes gain in terms of the facilitation in front of large groups is also evident in their sporting performance.

For more information in getting this workshop at your school, please contact the TAC.

VCFL V-Line Roadshow
Working together over a number of years, VCFL have engaged the services of Leading Teams to assist in the implementation of the V-Line Roadshow. A roving Life Skills Roadshow travels to regional Victoria to deliver a workshop to young people and their families in local sporting clubs covering topics such as Depression, Binge Drinking, and Drugs. Leading Teams runs the Positive Choices part of the 2 hour workshop, incorporating making positive choices, setting goals, choices, and consequences. This is a fantastic program that reaches all parts of the State, from Warrnambool, Horsham, Albury, Mildura, Bairnsdale, and Geelong.

AFL Ambassadors Program
Leading Teams and the AFL have developed a National Mentoring Program that has taken place throughout Australia. At present, 36 or 50% of current AFL Indigenous players have completed the mentor training from 12 of the 16 clubs. 42 Community mentors have been identified and trained to assist in the delivery of the program and also to act as role models for the mentees in the local community. In addition to the mentors, Indigenous AFL players have mentored 112 adolescent Indigenous males. The adolescent males have come from 10 community sites across the country.

The ongoing commitment to this program by the AFL and Leading Teams will ensure that participants will have:

• Increased capacity of young people to foster sustainable, pro social relationships.
  
• Increased capacity of young people to cope with and manage adversity
  
• Increased capacity of young people to make choices and behave in ways that will best ensure current and future health for themselves and others
  
• Increased number of athletes acting as positive role models in the community
  
• Improved health of youth as a result of high quality programs that are delivered by elite athletes who have received exceptional training.