Two of Football Federation Australia’s Member Federations helped celebrate the AFC Grassroots Football Day through club and community programs last week.
May 15th each year marks the annual celebration of grassroots football across Asia with around 40 of the AFC’s Member Associations showing their support through running community events on the day.
Football West marked the occasion with an Asian Cup Finals themed competition at Fragrant Gardens Park in Mirrabooka. Children involved in their Common Goal programme were given an AFC Grassroots Football Day shirt and enjoyed the afternoon playing football as different Asian countries.
Football West’s Inclusive Development Officer Gordon Duus said the event was a fantastic opportunity to connect local community program participants with football players around the world.
“All of the participants like to tell us where they came from and where they learnt to play the game,” he said. “Now they will be able to go home and tell their families they participated in an event along with thousands of other children throughout Asia.”
In Tasmania, Launceston United hosted around 100 MiniRoos kids in the AFC Grassroots themed festival. The kids enjoyed the football festival, scoring shots in the ALDI MiniRoos shooting target and even the challenge of a juggling competition.
“The number of children we got was fantastic I didn't think we'd get so many. They have all said they had an absolute ball. Kids loved the shoot out and all of the different activities,” said Launceston United Female Development Officer, Jan van Asch.
These two events highlight some of the fantastic community work being conducted by our Member Federations and is a reminder why football is such a diverse and inclusive sport.
With the 2017 season ongoing, we hope everyone involved with the game is enjoying their football.