GIANTS Chief Operating Officer, Richard Griffiths and Setanta O’hAilpin joined AFL NSW/ACT General Manager Tom Harley and AFL NSW/ACT Staff on a trip to the NSW Central West region last week.
The trip was to foster closer ties with the Central West community and increase awareness and development of AFL in the area, given the potential future growth in the region.
AFL/NSW ACT General Manager Tom Harley said it was great to visit a region that has so much growth potential.
“Our regional staff have made huge progress in growing the game in the Central West region, and the numbers we’re seeing indicate there is potential for even more over the coming years,” he said. “We’ve seen some fantastic achievements in school participation, when just six years ago we barely had a presence.
“AFL NSW/ACT, in partnership with the GWS GIANTS Academy, is committed to fostering talent in the Central West and ensuring there are viable pathways for AFL players across the region.”
AFL participation in the Central West has seen some extraordinary growth between 2005 and 2011; with the number of junior players in our introductory program rising by an outstanding 735 per cent. Over the same period the number of club participants rose by 156 per cent; and school participation grew from zero in 2005 to 1605 players in 2011.
Setanta O’hAilpin visited Dubbo, Wellington, Gulgong and Mudgee and spent time visiting school children in the area.
O’hAilpin said the Central West region was an important part of the Greater Western Sydney region and during the trip O’hAilpin spent time with students from various local schools and said the children were enthusiastic to learn as much as possible about AFL.
“The children have taken to it with both arms and they are enthusiastic. Obviously from my experiences so far not many professional sports people come out here so its great to talk to thesechildren and let them get a bit of an understanding of what professional sports is and the sacrifices you make,” said O’hAilpin.
“We’ve got such a massive region out here and it’s been untapped so far. Themore players we can try to get to play football the greater ourgame is going to be. Over the next five years the GIANTS are going to be working hard and visiting as many places as we can to get people involved in the game.
“We need to start children early and get them inducted into our Auskick program and you never know what might eventuate. You know we could have a kid from Gulgong, Dubbo or Mudgee and play AFL in a GWS Guernsey.
The trip also involved a visit to Charles Sturt University where GIANTS staff spoke with students from the universities sports science and journalism studies and discussed possible work experience placement opportunities for students, internships and future guest speaking opportunities.
By Adam Santarossa
Photo: Mudgee Guardian
