Act Belong Commit

Yesterday's City to Surf marks the beginning of the fun run 'season' which these days entails everything from open water swimming events to the challenging Cape to Cape mountain bike race. Congratulations to all those who competed yesterday. Hopefully there were some PBs and you enjoyed yourself.

The slogan, 'Act Belong Commit' has become well known and rightly so. By being active, belonging to teams and clubs, and committing to challenges and to others, we gain purpose, stay physically and mentally healthy and make a lot of new friends.

Being residents of Western Australia we are extremely fortunate to have access to world class sporting facilities and our sporting clubs are thriving hubs of our communities. Every year at the rugby dinner I speak to the Year 12 boys about joining a sporting club when they leave school. I try to stress that it doesn't have to be a rugby club, just as long as it is a club that is community orientated and widens their circle of friends. By doing this, they'll learn a great deal about life, make wonderful new friends and very likely find themselves a job and meet future employers. If you can't be a playing member, take on another role and uphold the slogan, 'Act Belong Commit'.

For those of us who aren't members of sporting clubs, the 'fun run' scene is a great way to uphold the motto, 'Act, Belong Commit'. The beauty of them is that in most cases they are raising money for really worthy causes and therefore making a difference to other people's lives too.

Below is a list of some events that are coming up and make a great commitment for you and your son. Training for an event is also a great way to keep a balanced lifestyle as the exam season approaches.

• The Euroz North Cottesloe Cold Water Classic which raises money for Leukaemia research.
• Tim's Ride, a ride in honour of old boy Tim Anderson, and raises awareness of safe cycling, as well as Youth Focus - this is a big one on the Scotch calendar and please look out for more information soon.
• The Big Pram Walk to raise awareness of perinatal depression.

For more ideas, check out this website: http://runcalendar.com.au/

Mr David Kyle
Director of Community and Service