Jordan Amos Modified Rugby Program - Q&A

August 5, 2024

Q&A with Year 11 student Jordan Amos, Student and Coach of the Modified Rugby Program at UniSQ.


What is the name of the program you are involved in?

The name of the program is the Modified Rugby Program (MRP) and was created by the Ginger Cloud Foundation. MRP is an organisation that allows young neurodiverse individuals to engage with the community in a game of a modified version of rugby and to have fun playing sport and staying active.


How did you get involved in the Modified Rugby Team?

I got involved in MRP through the school as a Mentor in February last year at UniSQ with my friend Mabel Galbraith (Year 11) and continued through the rest of the year and we were fortunate enough to be offered to coach at UniSQ this year.


What has the experience been like for you?

The experience has been nothing short of amazing. I never thought I would have had this much fun doing MRP in a million years, but I find it so enjoyable to do and so rewarding. MRP has been so good for me as I am able to help younger kids in the rugby community have

fun and be involved.


What have have been some of the highlights?

There have been so many highlights! Last year, we played with some of the Australian Wallabies when they were in Toowoomba. I was fortunate enough to meet former rugby greats like Chris Latham and Wallaroo Selena Worsley-Tranter. Later that year, we played a mini game in between TGS 1st and 2nds at the Grammar Downlands match. Every experience at MRP is a highlight for me!


How does volunteering your time and giving back to the community feel?

When I was volunteering as a mentor, and even now as a coach, giving my time and giving back to the MRP community didn’t seem like a difficult decision. I find it an absolute privilege to have this experience and for them to allow me to continue.


How do you assist the Modified Rugby Team?

As a mentor you assist the coaches by keeping your mentee (player) engaged in training drills and gamedays. As a mentor you are usually paired with a player for the season to easily connect with them so the players feel more comfortable. As a coach, we get the privilege to run trainings, run gamedays as well as referee and we also have to do various paperwork for the people who are in charge of MRP to keep the success of the organisation.


Recently the team played on the main field of TGS what did that feel like and how did the team react?

The players have played at TGS many times before but every time you can see the players feel really special as the rugby boys usually create a tunnel for them onto the field for their game. The players are particularly eager to be involved whenever they play at TGS and are always wanting to support the TGS boys, as they joined the boys to make a tunnel for the 16A’s and even joined in with their war cries. It was truly remarkable.


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