Panthers Junior League is pleased to announce a drop of 64 per cent in on and off-field incidents since the conception of the Creating Positive Culture Conference in 2020.
The junior rugby league conference, aimed at forming positive outcomes, was launched in 2020 across the under-14s and under-15s competitions.
Since then, those age divisions have seen a drop of 60 per cent in incidents in 2021, followed by 64 per cent last year.
Code of conducts have been reduced from a total of 26 in 2020 to just one in 2021 and four in 2022.
The change of behaviour is credited to the Creating Positive Culture Conference, which will again take place ahead of the upcoming season on Mach 18-19 at BlueBet Stadium.
The event will attract over 2,400 participants comprising players, officials and club leaders from all 24 feeder clubs across the greater Penrith district.
The conference is compulsory for all players, coaches and managers across the under-12s to under-15s age divisions.
“Junior rugby league is the lifeblood of the Penrith district for many kids and their families. Rugby league provides a valuable opportunity for kids to be connected to the community and play the game in a safe protected environment,” Panthers Rugby League CEO Matt Cameron said.
“The overarching aim of this conference is to bring meaningful education and awareness about the responsibilities of everyone involved in junior rugby league. To ensure our game continues to grow and thrive in a positive culture of safety and inclusion where any type of negative and harmful behaviour is not tolerated.
“We are thrilled to offer this revolutionary event again. Panthers Group and all our Junior club leaders and representatives are right behind this conference and our objectives of addressing behaviour change in regards to incidents on and off-field violence, promoting positive cultures and raising participation rates.”
The conference program will be presented and facilitated by Brogan Mulhall from ‘Panthers on the Prowl’, The Panthers Community Development program.
“Brogan was the obvious choice for this event. Not only is he a diehard Panthers fan he has been a passionate supporter of youth work in the Penrith area for a number of years. Brogan’s academic background in education, psychology and development combined with his 25 plus years of experience running programs both locally and internationally makes him our ideal leader on this one,” Cameron said.
“I’m really looking forward to the challenge of such a big event and the enormous energy that such big crowds will bring and filter back into their local clubs. It’s also a great opportunity to bring some of the approaches and strategies that we use at Panthers on the Prowl to such great success, onto a different stage,” Mulhall said.
