Western Bulldogs Football Club’s Youth Aip Program: The Whitten Project

Hanna Nguyen 10

The Whitten project, is a unique education program designed for young aspiring community leaders across Victoria’s western region to develop, civic and employability skills through high value experiential leadership opportunities. 60 young leaders were accepted out of the 147 applications by the Western Bulldogs Football club. Everywhere I go, I am always proud to say that I was a part of the “Whitten Project”.

At the start of the year, I was nominated by my coordinator Mr. Ryan to participate in this outstanding project. When I was first introduced, all I was thinking about was Western bulldogs as a sport. I was really nervous and didn’t know what to expect. But as he explained, he told me not to worry if I wasn’t sporty because it is much more than just about sport, it is also a leadership program. And to be honest with you, that’s where it started to interest me.

Throughout this 7-month program, there were approximately 30 workshops that were set to be completed. There were 5 councils that participated in this project including Brimbank.

We had the chance to meet young aspiring sport leaders, play on Etihad Stadium, watch Western bulldogs play football and even go on camp at the end of the year. All the young leaders that participated were all fun and interesting people.  

Overall, this leadership program has really made an impact to my life today. I have gotten so much out of it and I really appreciate Mark De Campo who ran this program, my nominator, Mr. Ryan and my parents who have driven me there and back to make this opportunity happen for me. This is an outstanding project and I would absolutely recommend it to anyone to take this opportunity. If I was ever offered to do again, I would!