Locals take charge to help complete Girls Auskick
A four week Girls Auskick program in Deniliquin, which ended Wednesday last week, was a huge hit.
AFL Albury/Murray program coordinator Chloe Beck said the program is aimed at girls five to 12 to give them a taste of Australian Rules football and help develop their sporting skills.
Beck celebrated the high number of participants which showed up each week — about 40 — compared to the usual number of 10-15 when the program has been trialled in other towns.
The program was put in jeopardy at the two week mark when Beck was caught up in a snap lockdown in Albury. That’s when Deniliquin Auskick and some Rams Football Club volunteers stepped in to make sure it could continue.
‘‘We hated the idea of seeing it fail because one person couldn’t get across the border,’’ Deniliquin Auskick president Scott Nilsson said.
While Deniliquin Auskick is a mixed gender event, Nilsson said it was ‘‘great for girls who are more comfortable’’ with a girls-only model to try out the sport.
He said the option was on the table to continue the program at the start of next year’s football season and thanked Sam Hall, Ash Morris, Brayden Hall, Rob Wren, Michael Todd, and Simon Maher for doing their bit.
‘‘We helped out for two weeks and it was great to have that involvement. There were some really good skills amongst the group and a lot of enthusiasm,’’ Hall said.
‘‘We kept it fairly basic and made it a bit of fun with the usual ball work drills, but we were able to finish with modified games, which the girls really enjoyed.’’
The final session culminated in a game for the 10 to 12 year-old players, and a sausage sizzle put on by the Rams.