Riley Bower to live every Auskickers dream

Congratulations to Riley Bower, of Westbrook NAB AFL Auskick Centre, who is the Round 14 nominee for Auskicker of the Year.

The NAB AFL Auskicker of the Year is a nationwide competition, which seeks to reward young footballers who exemplify the Auskick philosophy which is centred around fun, teamwork and inclusion. Riley was nominated by his father, Rob Bower, who sent in a poem detailing how Riley personified the Auskick spirit.

“Riley loves his Footy, and always tries his hardest.
He enjoys the rough and rumble, and strives to be the smartest.
He doesn’t mind when he loses, but always tries to win.
Falling on the ground, is just a bit of skin.
He enjoys displaying teamwork, and being with his friends,
And if he makes an error, he’ll try to make amends.
Bring on the Footy Season, he cannot wait to play.
Riley would enjoy it if he played it everyday!”

As part of his prize, Riley, aged 6, will receive a trip to Melbourne for the AFL Grand Final, where he will get to walk in the Grand Final parade, play on the MCG at half-time in front of 100,000 people and then present the premiership medal to a player from the winning team – a truly once in a lifetime experience.

Riley also now has a 1 in 22 chance of winning $5,000 in a NAB Smart Junior Saver account and Joel Selwood, from the Geelong Cats, as his footy mentor in 2011.

When asked what he likes most about all of the prizes, Riley exuberantly declared “I love playing Auskick at ANZ Stadium and can’t wait to play at the MCG Grand Final, but most of all, I can’t wait to put the medals on the winning team.”

Riley is involved with Westbrook Auskick, located in West Pennant Hills/Cherrybrook in the North West of Sydney, which meets every Sunday morning.

Riley’s dad, Rob, helps with set-up each week and assists with running some of the drills. Rob has suggested that Riley’s coach, Paul Vink, is very inspiring and passionate about helping kids learn and enjoy Auskick.

Rob Bower, is now a true advocate for the Auskick program. “Auskick provides a means for social acceptance and is a metaphor for life. It helps children learn about fun, mateship, teamwork, communication, winning, losing, pain and toil. There are many educational benefits to the sport as well. I believe Riley has improved his maths, simply by trying to keep score in all the games.”

If you are interested in getting involved with Auskick at Westbrook, please call Paul Vink on 0419 565 326, or come down to Mike Kenny Oval, Shepherds Drive, Cherrybrook, every Sunday morning from 9-10am.