Maningrida AFL in the spotlight
AFL, AFLNT with Essendon Football Club sent Rob Kerr and Michelle Murray to Maningrida where they met with Maningrida school kids and played a game of football.
The Essendon Football Club and staff from the AFL and AFLNT have made some students from West Arnhem very happy with a special visit to Maningrida school kids recently.
The AFL in conjunction with the Essendon Football Club sent Rob Kerr and Michelle Murray to Maningrida and the Tiwi Islands as a final stage of establishing Next Generation AFL Club Academies across the Territory in 2017.
As well as meeting the students and handing out Essendon Football Club jumpers and footballs, the star guests played an impromptu round of footy. They also met with local community leaders and stakeholders to discuss the next step for the program in West Arnhem and scope local talents.
AFL NT Remote Development Manager in Maningrida Bernie Price said the visit will lead to exciting opportunities ahead for kids and community football. The kids were extremely excited about the visit and the new jumpers and football.
Five Victorian AFL clubs have been allocated regions in the Northern Territory, including East Arnhem, with the aim of attracting boys and girls who are not currently playing football or are underrepresented in the AFL.
Collingwood, Essendon, Geelong, Hawthorn, and Melbourne have been provided with seed funding to begin establishing club-based academies in their specific regions in 2016, with the objective of expanding the program in 2017 and beyond.
AFLNT CEO Michael Solomon said the academies were part of the AFL’s broader commitment to invest in the community foundations of the game.
“The academies will look to build strong links between local communities, grassroots football and the elite level, to ensure our game is representative, inclusive and embraces gender and cultural diversity,” Solomon said.
“It is important we provide clubs with an incentive to develop a presence in these communities, and help attract talented indigenous players who would not otherwise play AFL or are underrepresented.”
Solomon said the details of the talent concessions were yet to be finalised, but it was envisaged the model would operate similar to the system in place for the Northern State Academies.
AFLNT High Performance Manager Wally Gallio said it was great to host the clubs who met in Darwin before flying out to their designated regions.
“For football to grow and prosper in the Territory, we must reinforce the pathways for Indigenous Australians,” Gallio said.
The clubs will now work with AFLNT to utilise staff based in their specific region to take advantage of AFL programs and resources already in place.
The Academies will enable AFL clubs to be actively involved in introducing kids to the game and provide aspirational pathways for coaches, umpires and administrators.
The allocation of regions is designed to align AFL clubs with underage talent programs, and where possible ensure clubs who have existing relationships with certain communities can build on those relationships.
