The Australian Rugby Union today announced the $45,000 fine being paid by Kurtley Beale following a breach of the ARU Code of Conduct will be directed to the Lloyd McDermott Rugby Development Team.
The money will be used specifically to promote empowerment for Indigenous girls and women through the Lloyd McDermott Rugby Development Team’s existing ‘Stronga Sistas’ program, which uses Rugby as an avenue to work with young women to learn about stronger bodies and stronger minds.
The Lloyd McDermott Rugby Development Team is an independent organisation dedicated to running programs that foster the development of teamwork, confidence, leadership and Rugby skills in a supportive environment.
Its programs promote an ethos of good sportsmanship, nutrition, mental health awareness, drug and alcohol free living and taking personal responsibility for positive life choices.
The Lloyd McDermott Rugby Development Team delivers competitions and programs to more than 1,000 young Indigenous men and women across Australia each year.
Alumni of the Lloyd McDermott Rugby Development Team include current Qantas Wallaby and Western Force captain Matt Hodgson and Taleena Simon, the first Aboriginal women to be signed on a contract with the Australian Women’s Sevens team.
The $45,000 fine was issued by an independent Code of Conduct Tribunal, and related to an offensive image Beale admitted sending on 9 June 2014.
Note: For further information about the Lloyd McDermott Rugby Development Team (LMRDT) and its programs including ‘Stronga Sistas’, please contact LMRDT President Gary Ella on (02) 9219 0714, 0407 756 533 or gary.ella@aboriginalaffairs.nsw.gov.au.
