PCYC (Police and Community Youth Clubs) is an organisation that aims to support young people in the community by offering low-cost, positive, sporting, and recreational programs in a safe environment. Geoff Taylor, a former member of the Australian Defence Force, runs PCYC in Burnie. Geoff runs the Operation Resilience Program, which aims to promote and develop young peoples’ cooperation, communication, teamwork, and leadership skills over a 4-week period. Some of the obstacles that students faced weekly included up to three river crossings where teams had to use either planks or ‘boats’ to get their team from one side to the other. There was also a tire swing obstacle and tire wall obstacle that students had to climb over. Each week Geoff introduced different hurdles for teams to navigate whilst completing the course.

While students were challenged at times, they also experienced a great deal of growth and gained some valuable life skills. Here are some of the students’ thoughts about the experience:

• “One of the skills I gained from this course was being able to understand why the leaders did specific things, and where they were coming from. Sometimes it is difficult to understand things like that.” – Billie
• “I think I gained confidence when it comes to heights.” – Cosmo referring to the tire wall obstacle
• “I felt supported by my team when they said encouraging things to each other.” – Maple
• “The skill I gained from the course was probably persistence because you can’t stop until it’s finished.” – Will 
• “I felt supported by one of my teammates when they supported my ideas … when I was the leader.” – Zach 
• “I feel like these skills will be useful when I get a job. PCYC taught us to follow rules and share ideas.” – Kristy 
• “Even though you have to go back to the start if you fall off, it teaches you that it is okay to make mistakes in life.” – Maija
• “I felt supported when people were helping me, cheering and just being kind.” – Jaelyn 
• “I think my leadership skills got a lot better during PCYC.” - Miriam 
• “I think the biggest challenge in PCYC was getting everyone to listen and cooperate. It was also challenging to get the visually impaired person over the obstacle course.” - Remy
• “My greatest achievement was using team work and communication to get over the obstacle courses and encouraging people to get over.” Chloe
• “My biggest challenge was wearing the goggles because when you looked through them it looks like everything is on a very big hill.” Brianna
• “My biggest achievement was the day I wore the wonky goggles and managed to finish the course without being sick.” Ari
• “My greatest achievement was learning to work as a team with other kids that were not my close friends and still completing the course on time.” Frankie
• “The most challenging part for me was when I had to wear the goggles that made me visually impaired. I couldn’t see things clearly and I felt very dizzy.” William