Aimed at engaging culturally and linguistically diverse youth in the Flemington area, the Andrew Welsh AusKick clinics – run in conjunction with Victoria Police - uses physical activity to help develop social skills and healthy living in young children through fun-football associated activities.
Following the various skills sessions run by Welsh in the afternoon, the children from a variety of backgrounds were treated to an Iftar dinner to promote harmony in the community by celebrating the Breaking of the Fast Ceremony.
Essendon’s community manager Nick Hannett said the club was proud to retain a strong focus on multicultural programs in the wider community.
“Essendon Football Club strongly believes in the power of sport and in particular, the game of AFL to assist in creating greater social cohesion for newly arrived communities with the broader Australian community” Hannett said.
“Monday’s Auskick program and the Iftar dinner that followed was a great celebration of our partnership and it highlight the strengths of cultural diversity in Australia.
“The club runs a number of multicultural programs including the Unity Cup, Multicultural Schools programs and the GLoBALL initiative and we are proud to continue our commitment to the Andrew Welsh Auskick,” he said.
Bombers star and multicultural ambassador Andrew Welsh said he was proud to be involved in the program, tweeting: “I had good fun this afternoon (Monday) at the Andrew Welsh Auskick centre. Even though it was pouring with rain, it did not faze the kids. #futurestars.”
Earlier this year, the Essendon Football Club in partnership with the Bill Hutchison Foundation further displayed its commitment to the wider Flemington community, with the release of ‘Falling for Sahara’ at the 2011 International Film festival based on the lives of newly arrived migrants from a variety of African backgrounds at the Flemington Housing estate.
‘Falling for Sahara"", starring Andrew Welsh highlighted the migration challenges faced by Australian African youth.
The Andrew Welsh Auskick Clinic is made possible by the support of Victoria Police and Yakult.
Click here to read about Essendon’s multicultural programs.
