Yarra Glen’s senior football coach is asking the Yarra Ranges community members to support his special trip to the Northern Territory.
In October, Jason De Graaf is going to travel to communities up north to give them Australian rules football opportunities.
The coach said he is going to host footy clinics and donate footy equipment to the communities.
“They love it. Football is priority number one up there. They walk around in their football jumpers all the time, kicking the footy all the time. Every minute of the day they can, they’ll play a game of football. They watch football as much as they can, sitting on iPads,” he said.
“To be able to go up there and take some more equipment, and to also give an opportunity to have a kick around, do some drills and some matches, they love it.
“It doesn’t take long as you roll into town, the word gets around and they come from everywhere, the boys and the girls. And it’s not just juniors, it’s seniors as well. They love a different face getting up there and doing things for them.”
Over the two-week journey, De Graaf is aiming to visit a few communities in the Northern Territory which don’t have a football structure program or exposure from the AFL.
“I haven’t mapped out a specific plan yet,” the footy coach said.
“I worked in Borroloola, and I know people there, some elders, teachers and students. So I’ll be going there.
“Robinson River is another place that I’ll be going to.”
De Graaf’s journey to support the Indigenous communities in the Northern Territory via the sport of football started in 2012 working with the AFL as a regional development manager but he’s not collaborating with the AFL anymore as he’d like to reach out to the communities overlooked by the league.
“Ever since then (when I first started working with the AFL in 2012), I’ve been off and on working in communities with the AFL or with sports and rec or community development,” he said.
“I’ve seen first-hand how much or how little the kids have up there. They go without a lot.
“It was just a progression to go from just helping where I could, to reaching out to the communities to maybe throw in a little bit more and take up some equipment when I went up there.”
De Graaf is encouraging the Yarra Ranges community members to support this initiative.
“(I need) pretty much just donations and exposure. I know the more equipment I can take up there, the more kids are going to benefit from it,” the footy coach said.
“The more people hear about it, obviously, is going to allow me to be able to get more equipment, whether it be football jumpers, footballs, footy boots.
“So the more people that know about it, it creates the opportunity to get bigger and bigger. And I’d like to be able to do that each year.”
People who wish to support De Graaf’s journey or donate football equipment are welcome to contact him via email at remoteaflfooty@gmail.com
