6th Staying on the Ball Camp, Philip Island 
The rugged coastline of Phillip Island once again offered its welcome to the 6th Basketball and Life-skills camp. Held over the weekend of 9th - 11th July, it brought together 42 from 10 different communities, ranging in age from 14-27 years.
The Department of Human Services Refugee Minor Program, The Spectrum Migrant Resource Centre in Thornbury and the Victorian Arabic Social Services (VASS) all sent people to the camp and covered their costs. The Vietnamese Women's Welfare Association offered three scholarships and VASS made a further donation towards the general expenses of the weekend. 
Basketball training sessions under the supervision of experienced coaches began at an early hour on Saturday and catered for all levels of capacity including encouraging those who had never played before. New skills were developed by all involved and the training concluded with an exciting tournament between different teams the following day.
Woven into the timetable between these times of high activity were life-skills sessions. They began with a look at self awareness and also focussed on how best to respond to life's challenges and choices and the changes in attitude and relationship these often require from us. Most of these discussions were hosted by youth who had been part of previous camps and had come back to help make the camp available to others. 
A regular feature of these camps and always a high point is the time for story sharing on the Saturday evening. Several participants had vivid tales to tell which touched us all and gave us a better understanding and deeper respect for one another. One who spoke, a young man originally from the Horn of Africa, said that after coming to Melbourne he had become part of a gang that was pursuing negative activities. Then one day when he was moving with that group, he suddenly thought of his mother and the incredible care and love she had shown in bringing up the family in very difficult circumstances. At that moment he knew he had to make a choice about how he would live. As a result he broke with the gang and began to develop a positive and responsible attitude.
Other sources of learning and inspiration included the screening of a 5 minute video made by two of the founders of the Major Streetbasketball Foundation that showed their strong spirit of initiative over three years to get one of Melbourne's city councils to agree to a $70,000 upgrade of their basketball facility.
The camp concluded with an outing to the local beach where certificates were presented and everyone had a chance to express what the weekend had meant to them. Several spoke with gratitude for the chance to increase their 'on-court' abilities and of the helpful reminder it had been about living out the values they said they believe in.
A large portion of the camp finances – more than $2500 - was raised through sponsorship from a bike and run-athon over a 16 kilometer journey held beforehand. All the campers were appreciative of this. Those attending the next camp will, no doubt, also feel grateful for the support of a community service grant of $2000 from the National Australia Bank.
This report can also be downloaded in PDF format, with more photos, below.