Member for Penrith Stuart Ayres MP today welcomed the Penrith Panthers to the NSW Parliament to participate in a panel discussion on leadership and community engagement.
In what may be a first for a full NRL playing list the Panthers players along with club coach Ivan Cleary joined Penrith MP Stuart Ayres, Newcastle MP Tim Owen and Charlestown MP Andrew Cornwell in a Leadership session facilitated by Sky Sports Radio personality Jimmy Smith.
\”We covered a lot of issues with the players. Including issues like being a community leader, engaging with the media and discussed some fundamental approaches to leadership that players can use both on and off the field.\” said Mr Ayres
\”The modern football player is not just a football player anymore. The community expects them to be role models, brand ambassadors for clubs and sponsors, media personalities and they have to be very effective time mangers. Today was about giving the players some ideas and strategies to deal with modern challenges\” said Mr Ayres
\”Stuart Ayres and his colleagues Andrew Cornwell and Tim Owen provided our team with a unique insight of their views on leadership and improving individual and team performance. I’m sure the players will benefit from the experience, I know I have\”. Said club coach Ivan Cleary.
\”I’ve never done anything like this in my career before. It was such a great idea and we get to finish the day with a whole lot of new ideas on how we can be better footballers, better community leaders and better people.\” Said club captain Kevin Kingston.
Rugby league clubs like Penrith Panthers are so important to communities across western Sydney and the today’s leadership discussion will help the club continue their every improving community engagement and perhaps even lead to plenty of wins on the field.
