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Sport enthusiast Zach Pearce has been awarded this month’s YAS award at the June council meeting.

The Young Achiever Support Scheme is aimed at assisting young people in their pursuits to participate at a state or national level for activities, events or competitions.

Zach participated in last year’s AFL/ACT All Abilities State Team at the AFL ³Ô¹ÏÍøÕ¾ Inclusion Carnival.

He was determined to return this year.

His hard work paid off with Zach set to travel to Sydney from July 15 to 21 to represent the All Abilities State Team.

The carnival will include personal development and leadership sessions.

Zach is a former Belvoir Special School student who left Belvoir to start working at AWARE industries at the age of 18.

Zach has a passion for sport which saw him join the Wodonga Jets, All Abilities Football team, to play his beloved Aussie rules and participate in a footy team “just like everyone else does”.

He also took on boundary umpiring for the Ovens and Murray umpire’s league to earn some extra money and keep up his fitness.

His quick improvement soon saw him running the boundary in senior matches, becoming a much-loved member of the umpiring fraternity.

Zach, 20, now has a home unit to himself, taking care of his cooking, cleaning and shopping etc, with support from Yooralla employees when needed.

Last year he started a volunteer role with Wodonga Council’s garden and outdoor teams, two days a week.

It didn’t take long before he was offered employment. He now works two days a week with council.

Zach fits in well with the various teams at council and is learning new skills every week.