Former Swan praises NSW school programs
By Richard Withers
After his retirement in 2001, it didn’t take long for Sydney Swans’ crowd favourite Troy Luff to become involved in development programs for the game in NSW.
The following year Luff, who is still coaching Auskick school programs, started sharing his experience and knowledge of the game with youngsters in the Sydney region.
“I was offered the chance to run a couple of programs all over Sydney and my involvement started there. The exposure the AFL gets through schools now is far more than it used to be.
“It’s great to see that a lot of junior clubs now often have more than one team in each age bracket.”
With the AFL gathering momentum in the NSW/ACT region, the schools programs remain integral to the sustained growth of the game.
“It’s been huge, and it’s just growing every year. The biggest problem now is finding enough grounds for the teams to train and play on.”
Luff cited the Paul Kelly Cup as a key indicator of the stark increase in the number of schools participating in AFL competitions over the past decade.
In 2012 the Paul Kelly Cup featured over 1000 teams from 450 different schools in the NSW/ACT region, resulting in a total of 16,000 participants.
This year’s zone finalists will play an exhibition final during the half-time break at a packed ANZ Stadium when the Sydney Swans take on Hawthorn on Friday August 30th.
