Michael Clarke

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View Michael Clarke's video message (WMV 2180 KB)

Michael Clarke is a key member of the Australian cricket team. Michael’s one day international debut was against England in 2003 and his first Test match was in India in 2004, where he made a thrilling 151 on debut. That year he became the youngest winner of the prestigious Allan Border Medal as the best Australian cricketer of 2004.

Michael’s healthy lifestyle is a key to his success. Michael was announced as a Healthy Active Ambassador in January 2007 and he is passionate about encouraging Australians to be more active and to eat better food.

Message from Michael Clarke

Healthy living and healthy eating are two very important things to help you get ahead in life. Being healthy gives you the strength, energy and vitality to live the life you want – and follow your dreams. Just like I did.

You see, I’ve always dreamed of being a cricketer, but never in my wildest dreams did I ever imagine that I would one day play for Australia. Now that I’ve had the honour of representing Australia, I reckon anything is possible as long as you work hard, live a healthy life and believe.

Over the years, I’ve given my name to many worthy causes – but being a Healthy Active Ambassador is a priority to me. So when the Australian Government approached me to be a Healthy Active ambassador, I jumped at the chance to be a role model for all young Australians. Being fit, healthy and active are important to me as a world cricketer. To stay on top of my game and keep in top form, I need to make sure that I take care of myself by eating healthy, keeping active and getting lots of regular exercise. Doing this, I can keep winning for Australia.

Easy for me, you might say. As a sports star, being healthy and fit is part of my job. But making the right lifestyle decisions shouldn’t be hard. Getting more involved in sports and physical activity should be fun, not a chore. Imagine how much fun you can have playing sports with your friends, or going for a walk in a park. All around you, there are so many things you can do to be more active.
Being physically active is just half the equation. You also need to make sure you eat all the right foods that are good for you. This means less junk food and more of the good stuff like fresh fruit and vegetables – try to have 2 serves of fruit and 5 serves of vegetables every day.

About a quarter of Aussie kids are overweight or obese. Forty per cent – that’s almost half – of all kids don’t participate in any sport or physical activities outside school hours. For a country like ours obsessed with sports I find this really hard to believe, but it’s true!

We need to do something about this growing problem, because it’s not going to go away. As a Healthy Active Ambassador I’m encouraging all kids to start making the right choices for your health.

I challenge you to just try these two things – eat better, and get out there and be active. You’ll be amazed at how good you’ll feel. You’ll have more energy and you’ll feel like you can do anything, maybe even play cricket for Australia one day!

So, join me in being healthy and active. Join me and be a winner!

Listen to Michael Clarke talk about the Healthy Active National Schools Competition.
- Michael Clarke (WMV 751 KB)
- Michael Clarke (MOV 3875 KB)

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