The Newcastle Jets welcomed a special guest to Ray Watt Oval yesterday morning, as three-time Paralympic Gold Medallist, Kurt Fearnley addressed the group in a special presentation.
Courtesy of the Professional Footballers Australia (PFA) and the Club’s Player Development Manager, Emily Figueroa, the inspirational Fearnley addressed the Hyundai A-League squad around the power of sport to change lives.
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PFA Executive Committee Members, Nigel Boogaard, Nikolai Topor-Stanley and Glen Moss were also played a big role in securing time with the always-popular NSW Australian of the Year.
A proud Novocastrian and huge Jets fan, Kurt shared the pride he feels in representing the city of Newcastle and wider region through his own life experiences.
“As a Jets fan and as a fan of Newcastle, I spoke about the joys I have had representing my community and the power of sport,” Fearnley said.
“It’s not about trying to turn form around or anything like that. It’s about sport, and about how I feel pride when I see the Jets do what they do.
“The town can be defined by so many different things, we can host the Supercars, we can have a good Jets team, we can have a good Knights team, we can have a bloke in a wheelchair, we can be so multi-layered and it felt like last year we realised that.
“We can define ourselves any way we want and bringing the A-League Grand Final here was a real coup.”
Jets boss, Ernie Merrick was left in awe of Fearnley and appreciated the insights he was able to offer his players.
“Kurt was outstanding, his talk really hit home,” Merrick said.
“I am a great believer in guest speakers, the way he talked about commitment and owning what he wanted to do and buying into it was so in line with what we are trying to achieve at the club.”
