2010! 2010!

STATE OF AFFAIRS | Great partnerships in football
AFL Tasmania, Aurora Energy and Tasmanian
primary schools have shared a very successful
12-year partnership with the Aurora Footy in
Schools program.
With the introduction of the new Tasmania State
League (TSL) in 2009 the 10 inaugural TSL clubs
have continued and grown the success of the
program across the whole of Tasmania which
resulted in our 100,000th participant in the
Aurora Footy in Schools program.
On the 15th and 16th March 2010, Aurora Footy
in Schools conducted its bi-annual King and
Flinders Island trip. The travelling party of 16
was made up of Aurora senior management,
including CEO Peter Davis, Footy in Schools and
Aurora’s basketball equivalent program staff,
North Launceston Football Club player and
part-time Development Officer Zane Littlejohn
accompanied by AFL Tasmania Regional Manger
(North) Shaun Young and Business Development
Manager Trent Bartlett.
We left Hobart early on the morning of the
15th flying directly to King Island and on to
the King Island Primary School where 120
enthusiastic students were divided in 4 groups
and participated in skill development i.e. kicking,
marking and handballing, modified skill games
and the crowd favourite “tackling contest” (using
tackling bags only, not fellow students, although
some where very keen to try out the their newly
developed skills on each other).
The next morning we left King Island bound for
Flinders Island where an equally enthusiastic
group of 70-odd students were awaiting our
arrival. We were slightly delayed due to a wrong
turn on the road to Flinders Island Primary School
(as you can imagine there are not too many roads
on Flinders Island and not too many schools, so
the driver will remain anonymous).
Again the students where divided into groups
and participated in skill development and games.
And for the record the girls unanimously won
the tackling contest on both islands much to the
surprise of the boys!
The trips to King and Flinders Island are only
made possible by the generosity and support of
Aurora Energy who make seats available on their
chartered flight to and from the islands.
I would like to thank the North Launceston
Football Club and in particular Zane Littlejohn for
his time and outstanding efforts with the students
of King and Flinders and to the schools and
students for inviting us to bring the Aurora Footy in
Schools program to them.
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