The Pakenham Football Club was the toast of the Australian Football League Coaches Association after being announced the 2015 FOX FOOTY Club Rewards Gold Tier Award winners.
Hailing from the South East Football Netball League, the Lions were rewarded for their outstanding work in the community as a grassroots football club, attending last night’s AFLCA dinner as honorary guests.
Pakenham’s community work has seen them be actively engaged in both local and national initiatives from the Cardinia Relay for Life, Pakenham RSL and Yakkerboo Festival, to the MND Foundation, BeyondBlue, the White Ribbon Foundation and Zaidee’s Rainbow Foundation.
Selected from over 100 nominated grassroots clubs from around Australia, and additional to the dinner, Pakenham will have the opportunity to tour the FOX FOOTY Studios as well as send 40 club representatives to St Kilda Football Club for a full day’s experience at a professional AFL club during the upcoming 2016 pre-season.
Pakenham's Simon Bevan said it was an honour for the club to have its monumental community work recognised by the FOX FOOTY Club Rewards program.
“To have attended last night and to have our work in the community acknowledged by FOX FOOTY and the AFLCA, it was a pretty proud moment for our footy club last night,” Bevan said.
“It was a really special experience to be at the dinner and to be right among some of the elite coaches, we got a lot out of it and look forward to getting down to the Saints in the next couple of months.”
The FOX FOOTY Club Rewards is an initiative created by Foxtelwhereby local football clubs are recognised for the benefits they have delivered to their local communities, be it through fundraising for a charitable cause, broader community development initiatives or helping out a club member in a time of need.
National Ambassador for the program, and ex St Kilda captain, Danny Frawley, believes it will be the opportunity of a lifetime for each club that is involved to receive advice from some of the game’s elite personnel.
“Local football clubs are the backbone of the community and it is refreshing to see an organisation like Foxtel genuinely investing in their growth and development. By giving them access to expert AFL coaching advice, as well as some best practices for how to grow their clubs off the field, the clubs will be better placed to further grow their presence in the local community” said Frawley.
Already the program has seen 50 clubs have the opportunity to attend a coaching seminar with high-profile AFL coaches Luke Beveridge, Damien Hardwick and Alistair Clarkson, as well as a further 17 clubs afforded the opportunity to visit AFL clubs, tour their facilities and have personalised strategy meetings with each club’s head coach.
Foxtel’s Executive Director of Sports and Content Partnerships, Ben Buckley, was pleased all successful clubs would be able to receive once-in-a-lifetime opportunities with current, well-respected AFL personnel.
“We’re thrilled that these clubs are able to meet some of the biggest names in football as a result of telling their inspiring stories of assistance for their communities,” said Buckley.
“It’s important to recognise those clubs that go above and beyond to give back to their communities and both Foxtel and FOX FOOTY are proud to reward these clubs with what they hopefully see as a great opportunity to further grow their clubs.”
Last Modified on 03/12/2015 17:14