Essendon’s Next Generation Academy is officially underway with more than 150 children attending last night’s launch.

The Next Generation Academies are a joint initiative from the AFL and clubs and are aimed at exposing more young people to the game.

Each club is assigned a region with the Bombers operating in the Hume, Moonee Valley, Moreland, Mitchell and Macedon Ranges regions in Victoria as well as West Arnham and Tiwi Islands in the Northern Territory.

“We’ve been doing a lot of works in these zones over a number of years anyway, so this is just an extension of that,” Community Programs Manager and Academy Assistant Coach Bernard Shepheard said.

“Over this ten week program there is an aim to identify talent but also help the child’s general development as well.”

The program is aimed at Multicultural and Indigenous communities but will also involve players from the Calder Cannons underage programs.

“There will be some kids in attendance that have had very little exposure to the game.  We want to provide them with some tools that can help grow the game at a local level,” Shepheard said.

“They’ll be exposed to a high level program in an elite environment and work under the tutelage of some highly credentialed coaches.” 

Calder Cannons Head Coach Andrew Johnston will head the Academy that will also include VFL players Daniel Coghlan, Aaron Heppell, Sam Heavyside and Jacob Thompson who will serve as assistant coaches. 

While increasing opportunities for young players to learn about the game is a key aim, there is also the chance to eventually have first access to players involved in the program at the draft table.

“We have the ability to identify and develop young talent in those areas with a focus on children with an indigenous or multicultural background (one parent born overseas from an African or Asian country),” Shepheard said.

“If we’re able to identify talent that fits that criteria we can then work with them and when they reach ‘draft age’ we are able to have priority to select them in a similar manner to the way the current father-son rule works.” 

The ten-week program continues next week and will run up until mid-December.