Milan briefs James, Franciscu and Christopher before a game.SOCCER has become an analogy for life’s ups and downs in a unique program offered at St John’s Regional College.
Psychologist Milan Colic has introduced a soccer program to students who have experienced trauma, particularly those from a migrant or refugee background.
Called the Team of Life, students involved in soccer matches are asked to use the game as an analogy for life.
Students are asked who the key players in their lives are.
They are asked questions such as, “if you had to name one person who looks out for you, who guards your goals, who is most reliable, who would this be?”
Once team line-ups are established the students then move on to outline their main collective goals achieved with the support of their team.
Various conversations are taken up in weekly meetings to get students thinking about what are their next goals in life, how they are ‘training’ to achieve this, and with whose support.
The Team of Life was established by David Denborough and introduced to schools in Africa, and is now used in various cities round the world such as New York, Vancouver, Rochester and Mexico City.
St John’s Regional College this week said the program has helped the students fit into the school, and learn to express themselves and talk about their feelings and emotions, even if it is through a game of soccer.
“The Team of Life is making its way around the globe, and in a multicultural community such as Dandenong, it may prove to significantly increase the wellbeing of refugee students,” the school said in a press statement.
