Students kicking goals in schools

The wait for students at Banksmeadow Public School is over as they welcomed a new set of goal posts as part of a visit from the Sydney Swans on Wednesday.

Swans’ players Mark Seaby, Daniel Hannebery and Brett Meredith, conducted clinics and fielded questions from the inquisitive youngsters as part of their Australia Post Community Camp.

According to school principal, Cathy Lucantonio, the goal posts will be popular with the 250 students who attend the school.

“Being a small school, we are very lucky and appreciative of the opportunity to install new goal posts,” she said.

“AFL is popular in the school and we are always looking to promote the participation and team focus associated with sport.”

Lucantonio mentioned the school has conducted an AFL program for Years 3 to 6 for the last two years and wouldn’t have been able to afford the posts without support from AFL NSW/ACT.

For Hannebery, it was a great chance to spread the word about the benefits of AFL and sport in general.

“It was great today to see the kids, chat to them and have shots at the new goal posts,” he said.

“We wanted to emphasise the importance of staying fit and healthy through sport, and that there are avenues through the Swans to come and try AFL.”

The growth of the code in NSW was also encouraging for Hannebery and was well resembled in the number of AFL goal posts at schools.

“In the AFL dominated states, every oval has goal posts,” he said.

“It is great to see AFL growing in Sydney and hopefully we can get even more goal posts in the schools.”

Swans defender Lewis Roberts-Thomson visited San Souci Public School this week which is another school to have installed PILA AFL goal posts. 

Roberts-Thomson grew up on the north shore in Sydney in the 1990’s and said AFL was “basically a foreign language” then.

A former junior rugby union player, Roberts-Thomson was a latecomer to the sport, which barely existed in Sydney schools at the time.

So the Swans defender saw first-hand just how far the sport has come in NSW on Wednesday when he visited a primary school in Sydney’s south that recently had goal posts installed.

As part of the Community Camp program, Roberts-Thomson conducted a clinic and signing session at Sans Souci Public School, where goal posts had just been erected at either end of its small field.

The kids were having an absolute ball and the fact some were attempting snaps and drop punts was a sign the Swans and the AFL are continuing to break down barriers outside of the sport’s traditional centres.

“This is probably the first time I’ve seen this, goal posts in a school playground,” Roberts-Thomson told AFL.com.au.

“I think it’s a great step in the right direction no doubt.

“I think the area of Sans Souci has a number of schools that have put up some goal posts. It’s great to see the kids out kicking footys.

“The response to these community camps has been really, really positive and the kids seem to take a lot from the clinics we’re conducting in terms of skill development.”