SCA is thrilled to announce an exciting WORLD FIRST with 24 indigenous students introduced to chaplaincy at Etihad Stadium this week.

The 24 indigenous people flew into Melbourne from all around the country including Darwin, Perth, Broome and Broken Hill. AFL Indigenous Chaplain Tony Riches and wife Francine said “[They] were thrilled to have such an enthusiastic group of people so keen on chaplaincy. Four of the girls want to be sports chaplains!”

MelbourneFC Chaplain Cam Butler said, “This was a dream 5 years ago! We had no indigenous sports chaplains then, but plenty of opportunity.” He added, “It’s a credit to Tony and Francine [who] have worked real hard at it.” Butler, presented the guiding principles of Australian Sports Chaplains on the first day with Hawke’s development player Tom Kickett speaking on the challenges of leaving home to play sport at the elite level.

The training wraps up on Monday and SCA expects to see a fresh new group of chaplains serving clubs and people in the coming years. SCA wishes to thank its major sponsors and TEAR Australia for their tremendous support.