By CASEY NEILL
A DANDENONG soccer pitch is helping unemployed young migrants find their way into work.
Leaders of Tomorrow Careers Training CEO Aaron Mashano is running a competition at the Pop-Up-Park on Wednesday evenings.
He said Greater Dandenong had the second highest level of youth disengagement – young people not in paid employment or enrolled in education – in Melbourne, at more than 15 per cent.
“After connecting with some multicultural youth, we recognised that most of the disengagement was around participants wanting alternative careers training pathways outside mainstream models,” he said.
“We also recognised that most youth, after turning 25 years, were not eligible for youth support and so slipped through the cracks with no outcomes.”
So Mr Mashano turned to competitive soccer to give young people a chance to demonstrate leadership and complete work experience in refereeing and coaching.
The program runs for three weeks each month, with three games per week.
“Within the two earlier social games, employers and stakeholders can engage socially and play with their sponsored teams,” Mr Mashano said.
Mr Mashano said the competition created relationships between unemployed youths and potential employers, fostered leadership skills and team-building skills by allowing youths to co-ordinate the games, and helped young people identify pathways into employment.
Members from the winning team in the third match take home movie tickets and have the chance to play for the Leaders of Tomorrow team at outside competitions.
