WHITTLESEA Junior Football Club officials say a visit from AFL and AFLW stars Nick Daicos and Georgie Prespakis was a sign of big things to come, with plans to create an all-abilities Auskick program.
Daicos and Prespakis visited the club on Sunday as part of an Auskick clinic, taking young players from the club through a series of drills and posing for photos with the 2022 AFLW premiership cup.
Whittlesea Junior Football Netball Club female football operations manager Tania Pyle said it was particularly encouraging to see so many young girls at the program, with diversity and inclusion a focus of the club.
“A big thing for us at the football club is that we want kids to start to feel like they belong somewhere … and be all-inclusive in the community, where it doesn’t matter what anyone’s race, gender or ability is,” she said.
“It’s a focus for us to have more kids involved with community events as well.
“We just want to support our community and get out there and have more kids involved in sport without having to worry about accessibility.”
Ms Pyle said club officials liaised with NAB AFL Auskick leaders to discuss the possibility of starting an all-abilities team.
“We spoke to someone from Auskick and they want to help us in the future to support and all-abilities Auskick program,” she said.
“That was a goal of ours since the start of this year: to eventually have a sport program within the Whittlesea township where kids with disabilities are able to participate alongside other kids.”
Ms Pyle said former Whittlesea junior footballer Chloe Molloy – now a member of the AFLW’s Collingwood Magpies – had been unable to attend the clinic with other commitments, but the club’s juniors were thrilled to meet Daicos and Prespakis.
“We have quite a number of young girls in the Auskick program who are crazy Geelong supporters and they come to footy every week in their Geelong gear. They were super excited to see Georgie,” she said.
Prespakis is from Romsey, where she started playing football as a junior.
The club is encouraging members to nominate volunteers or players who have helped grow women’s football as part of a NAB grant offering $10,000 for local clubs.
Ms Pyle said if the club was successful, the money would be put towards a range of initiatives.
“We’ve asked families to nominate a club person who they value, in the hopes of putting some money away for next year,” she said.
“We’ve got a digital scoreboard going up at AF Walker Reserve and we’re also looking at getting Indigenous and Anzac Day jumpers made up for our top-age under 17 and under 18 girls’ teams.”
People can submit nominations online at nab.com.au/aflwstars.
