Rusty coaxes and coaches new arrivals to success

Running up an $800 phone bill is all part of a season’s work for legendary WA netball coach Julie “Rusty” Hazel.

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17 December 2008

Rusty has just clocked up her 38th consecutive season as a coach – a pursuit that she’s been involved with since she was 16 (and that doesn’t include her 23 years of playing). By the rapid-fire nature of her enthusiastic responses during this interview, there’s plenty more coaching to come.

 Rusty is now working on special programs for kids from Culturally and Linguistically Diverse backgrounds (CaLD) - a program that is not just challenging for both students and teacher, but also immensely rewarding in so many ways.

CaLD programs are taking on more importance in Australia, as the number of immigrants grows rapidly. There are many benefits to CaLD programs. High on the list is facilitating settlement and social inclusion.

Spending most of her time in the northern suburbs at Balga Senior High School, which has students from more than 70 countries, Rusty works in pastoral care, health programs for Indigenous students and, of course, running the netball program, which she runs in conjunction with the local West Coast Club.

There are four teams and 53 players involved in the program.

With a background in youth welfare work, Rusty would seem ideally suited to the demands of the program.

"Many of the children in the program are refugees from war-torn countries, mostly from Africa, so they often have deep-seated problem that can manifest themselves in many different ways," said Rusty, in between admonishing three youths who were sneaking around the school.

"You blokes get back to class now," she yelled, surprising the trio, who didn't expect to see her.

In her 38 years of coaching, Rusty could have mentored well in excess of 3000 girls - a figure that really surprises her, only because she's never thought about it.

There's been only great joy, because Rusty sees the benefits, though "it's a bit of a bugger I haven't coached someone to the national team". The smattering of players who have made national competition teams, however, are testament to her skills.

But the CaLD program is what really brings her great joy, because, as Rusty says: "This is what's it's really all about: participation, and hope."

CaLD programs have been shown to benefit both the individuals and the communities they live in. For the students, the program can become a "bridge" to assist their settlement. 

Initially Rusty was involved with the Nyoongah program at Balga High, but because of the high absenteeism rates the school just didn't have to numbers to field consistent teams. At best, they would only get two or three girls who were talented, and another couple who were average. The result was that the good girls wouldn't pass to the average players.

"Because of the low numbers, I asked the principal if we could open it to the Maori and African students," Rusty said.

African students are a predominant group at Balga, with many nationalities represented, including students from Rwanda, Kenya, Uganda and The Sudan. There are also quite a few students from Afghanistan and Burma.

The program started in the third term of 2007 and has proved to be an outstanding success. Rusty currently coaches four CaLD teams, comprising African, Maori, Noongar and  Caucasian students.

"The majority of students have stuck with it," Rusty said. "The only ones I lose are those who complete the intermediate English programs and move to schools that are closer to their homes.

"Apart from that, most of the kids just want to know why they have to stop playing in between seasons."

So there she is with 50 children all lined up on court, most with only basic English skills, and she's shouting out netball commands, with clearly none of them having a clue what she's on about.

"I was just using netball jargon and they didn't have a clue, so for me it was a learning experience and showed me that it takes time," Rusty said.

If the children thought it confusing, spare a thought for the friends and parent coaches who help out.

"It's quite difficult and confronting for the volunteers," Rusty said. "They just want to teach netball, but discover that they have to handle all the associated difficulties, such as language and customs."

One of the biggest obstacles (still yet to be overcome) is the resistance of parents to the game. This can often be a case that the parents can not read the notes that are sent home. And getting translations in many different languages is a costly exercise.

"The language differences and understanding of cultures (both ways) is a big barrier," Rusty said.

"I've only spoken to one mother in the time the program has been running, and that was through an interpreter. The mum's dream, though, was for her daughter to become educated and become an umpire."

For many, sport (and particularly netball) isn't a way of life. For example, Muslim students from Afghanistan aren't allowed to play at night, and they have to wear correct religious dress during games.

But despite the obstacles, the program is thriving and everyone is learning new lessons as they go.

"The bottom line is that we just want them to have fun and realise that the game will open up new opportunities for them and that they play it for life," Rusty said.

"My main aim is to coach sportsmanship. Just the simple act of all putting their hands in the middle before and after a game and shouting ‘Balga', is an example of this.

 "We also teach them that it's about making friends, about respecting one another, about learning English and social skills and all those other things we take for granted. But above all, it's about giving them hope, because if they can see there's a place for them in netball, then they can see there can be other opportunities that will open up."

Initially the kids were apprehensive about the idea.

"They were very unsure how it would work, in more ways than one," said Rusty. "For a start, most of them had never played on a court. And they'd only played soccer in the refugee camps. But for the most part they took a very ‘Australian attitude' to give it a go.

"It took about half of the first season (six weeks) to get them used to it."

Even though the program has only been running for less than two years, with assistance from the Department of Sport and Recreation and the David Wirrpanda Foundation, it's clear it's making progress in more ways than one.

In their first game the score was 18-1. Last season one of the team finished runners-up. And now seven kids have progressed to the junior umpiring program, where they can earn pocket money.

The confidence the kids have developed has manifested itself off the court, with nine children of 11 interviewed gaining jobs with a national retailer, and another dozen having interviews early in 2009.

"In many ways, this program can set them up for a new life," said Rusty.

"The netball program has benefited them by helping them integrate into the local community, and in turn, Australia. Certainly the way in which they have to quickly learn the language and developing self-confidence would have helped them in obtaining jobs.

"We all know Australians love sport, so by being involved in a unique Australian pursuit they are saying they just want to be part of everything. So in that respect it gives them that hope, because if you haven't got that, then you've really got nothing."