YOUNG footballers from the Far West travelled to Adelaide over the weekend to play on the Adelaide Oval during halftime between the Adelaide Crows and Melbourne Demons.
AFL Broken Hill development officer David Bearman said local AFL players have been kicking the ball at halftime at the oval almost annually, though they missed last year.
“Last time we went down, the kids played half time for Port Adelaide versus Richmond,” he said.
“But because we have two Broken Hill boys playing for the Adelaide Crows, we requested a Crows game this year.”
Six players were selected via a ballot system from each of the four AFL clubs in Broken Hill to travel to Adelaide.
The young athletes were aged between eight and 10.
Mr Bearman said he heard from parents that the kids had a terrific time in the big smoke.
“It just blew the kids away, they couldn’t believe how many people were there,” he said.
“At halftime when they’re playing on the field the crowd quite often cheers for goals or good tackles or whatever, and they said they were just blown away by how loud the cheering was.”
Mr Bearman said some of the players even arrived in Adelaide early so they could meet former Broken Hill players Isaac Cumming and Taylor Walker at the training session.
“It’s a real eye opener for our young players,” he said.
“There’s a pathway, if they want to do this they can make it, and that’s a big reason for us it to highlight that for young players, something can come of it in the future if they want.”
