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On Sunday, July 5th the Newcastle Centurions hosted the first Aussie Rules Football Junior Open Day at Cochrane Park, Benton. Young people from local schools were invited to take part in either the morning session for primary school age children or the afternoon session for those in secondary school. Both sessions were lead by local Centurions players with the basic skills of kicking, handpassing and bouncing taught through fun, all inclusive activities. The goal scoring and longest kicking competitions proved popular as the young people had the chance to show off their new skills against the more experienced Centurions players which included three England representatives. Both sessions concluded with a match which gave everyone including the parents watching on the sidelines the opportunity to see exactly what Aussie Rules is all about and how much fun it can be.

‘I really enjoyed the afternoon; I’ll have to get some friends along on Tuesday so we can start a team’
Rachel Cartwright , Longbenton.

‘I love playing Aussie Rules because it involves lots of kicking, running and tackling. It tires you out very easily and is a very fast game and so you have to be quite fit. It is a shame that not many people know about Aussie Rules here, because I would like to be able to play it more often against other teams.’
Lachy Dalgleish, Newcastle School For Boys, Gosforth.

‘Today was a great way to start generating some interest amongst local young people so that in the future as a club we can look to have junior male and female aussie rules football teams – something we are very keen to do.’
Matt Bradford, Event Co-Organiser, Newcastle Centurion’s Captain and England Dragonslayer player.

‘What the Centurions have achieved in securing funding for this day and then preparing and organising it has been fantastic. It’s remarkable how far the players have come in three years since first being introduced to the game themselves. As the governing body for Aussie Rules Football in the north east we are very keen to see clubs establish themselves in the community and get young people participating in the sport. The Centurions are certainly setting an example that we will be encouraging other clubs to follow.’
Rick Shrowder, Development Manager Aussie Rules UK North East.

As a follow up to Sunday’s activities there will be another opportunity for young people to come and try Aussie Rules on Tuesday July 14th 18.00 – 19.00 at Novocastrians RFC, The Drive, Benton.