“It’s not rocket science!” How Rob Geersen is changing children’s lives through Footy

By Fiona Dempsey //

When I think of what a volunteer is and what it means to give back to the community, I think of Rob Geersen. The Pride of Australia Medal nominee and founder of the Coolbinia Junior Football Club’s Star Kick initiative, is the ultimate ‘Active Citizen’. Meeting Rob Geersen for the first time at Coolbinia’s training in Yokine Park on a Sunday morning I was blown away by his passion for what he’s doing and the dedication he has. Geersen has seen how the program has impacted kids over the years, one in particular standing out to him. “One of the boys, who’s now 14 or 15, when he first came down I remember distinctly he didn’t engage he just was there. Now he’s engaged, he’s a leader, he leads the other kids, he looks after them, and I’ve seen his personal growth over the past three and half, four years.”

So what is this Star Kick initiative? Well, it’s a program that gives kids with mental and physical disabilities the chance to train with able-bodied children. Something Geersen saw a real need for, “There’s been other programs that run at 6pm on a Friday night, with six kids running around in the dark kicking the football and I couldn’t think of anything more deflating and more soul-less than that. It’s like you’re segregated, you’ve got nothing to do with anyone else, whilst there might be a need for that in some cases, I just think we’re past that.”

So, Geersen started the Star Kick program on his own back in 2015, with the support of Coolbinia Junior Football Club. Now, moving into their fourth season, Geersen reminisced about the process of setting up the program, “It was a lot of work it was a heck of a lot of work, because there wasn’t anything there, we had nothing to show people, it was just this concept.” This “concept” took off, gathering 47 registered kids by the end of the first season, something he couldn’t believe, “I sort of had a thought in my head that we might get six to ten kids in the first year and we ended up with 47.” Although it was extremely successful and grew quickly it still took a lot of time and energy to get it up and running. Geersen explained that it took five to six months from the first initial concept to having a finalised program.

Having a son himself with a disability, Geersen was determined to get the program up and running. He faced many obstacles on the way, lack of money, lack of initial support and even receiving push back from the West Australian Football Commission. “They acknowledge that this is a program that they support now, which wasn’t the case when we first started. It was actually the opposite, it was ‘you’re not allowed to do that’ and we just went ‘well we are.’”

This drive and determination has led to other clubs jumping on board and picking up the program. First was Joondalup who are now into their third year, then East Fremantle who are now into their second year, and just this year Quinns Rocks started a team. “There’s sort of this organic growth,” Geersen says, “Last year for the first time we got all the clubs together and we played a game against another club like all the other kids get to do.” Whilst growth of the program is the ultimate goal, Geersen explains that even that comes with some hurdles, “At the moment the drive has come from our club, so we go to a club and tell them what we’re doing and they go ‘oh that’s cool, help us start.’ Whilst that’s okay, we can’t be around the country…we can’t be everything to everybody.”

Ultimately, Geersen would want to see the Star Kick program owned and operated by the AFL, with the league putting in place the frameworks to build and oversee it. Geersen explains that it may be a possibility in the future, “The AFL know about it, we’ve had meetings but it’s not high priority for them at the moment.” However, with a strong number of kids in the program and more teams being added now may be the time for the AFL to step in, “Sometimes you get to critical mass and in WA we’re probably at that.”

When I asked how the program as a whole runs from session-to-session, Geersen had one very simple answer, “It won’t run without the volunteers.” Many of the programs volunteers are University students, however, some are professionals in the area of disabilities and just have a passion for it. While others are past players from the club or dad’s of some of the program’s kids, “Like any other team they’re just helping their kids and helping run sessions, it’s just like any another group.” It’s the volunteers that ultimately keep the program not only running but also growing, “It’s critical because we have some kids who are blind and we need someone to guide them around, there are kids in wheelchairs that need someone to help them stand. Without that there’s no enough arms and legs to go around. So it wouldn’t run basically.”

Star Kick’s success has also been seen in some of the kids transitioning from the program to mainstream teams. “That’s our ultimate goal, our desire is to provide a pathway,” Geersen explains, “For some that may be a goal, for others they want to stay in our environment. It’s not for us to push either way but it is something we offer, ‘if you aspire to it we’ll do what we can to support you’.” This sentiment is the whole heart of the program, this idea of providing those in the community an opportunity that previously has not been afforded to them. Geersen clarifies that the program is very different to what has previously been offered by other organisations, “This is not a business, there’s a lot of disability organisations running stuff, what they can’t provide is link to community and really that’s the only thing different we do.” It’s this link to community that provides so many more benefits, “You can organise a football game or basketball game but if it’s just within your closed group, that’s just what it remains, but if you make it wider that’s the difference. It’s certainly not rocket science.”

The main aspect Geersen hopes people understand about the program is that “the sport is irrelevant,” Stark Kick strives to get clubs “to think a bit differently about how we can help others to be a part of our club.” If you were to ask Geersen why Star Kick is both successful and impactful, he’ll have one simple answer for you, “It’s run for the community by the community.”