FIFTEEN junior players from the Goulburn Swans Auskick program recently had the chance to stride like ‘Giants’ on to Spotless Stadium at Homebush to take on the youngsters from the Young Saints during the half-time break of the GWS Giants versus West Coast Eagles match.
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The smiles on their faces were something to behold, when they were led over to the fence after the game to salute the crowd
The young players kids ran out wearing the colours of the of the two teams doing battle in the AFL’s round 21 clash.
The Goulburn Swans juniors swapped their red and white jerseys for the orange, white and charcoal of the GWS Giants, while the junior Saints donned the blue and gold of the West Coast Eagles.
Under the tutelage of local Auskick coordinator, James Kent the locals played some enterprising footy, but most importantly they had the time of their lives playing in front of an audience, in excess of 10,000 people.
The smiles on their faces were something to behold, when they were led over to the fence after the game to salute the crowd, to the cheers of some very proud and excited parents.
A big thank you you must go out to James and his father Philip for organising the experience and to the Goulburn Swans for their continued support of the local Auskick program.
Every Sunday morning, Kent runs the Auskick program for a group of 26 to 30 young players and as the year has gone on they have showed a marked improvement in their skills.
Kent has been able to access the resources of the AFL’s NSW/ACT and region development program to enhance the program locally and give the kids better quality tuition. It is hoped that next year the Goulburn kids will be able to once again tap into the GWS Community Camp and AFL Gala Day.
It will mean that some Giants players will be able to visit Goulburn for the day to promote the game here as the AFL is invested in developing the region of Goulburn and this is a great opportunity to do just that.
There will also be another opportunity to join the half-time fun at a Giants home game again next season (Sydney or Canberra).
There are also plans to try and get some coaching into local schools as part of their sporting curriculum that will hopefully introduce more children to the game.
