AS junior AFL numbers in Kiama enjoy a sizeable boost, four of the town's brightest young footballers have taken their first steps towards kicking on and becoming potential stars of the future.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Kiama Power Junior AFL players George Hicks, 10; Cooper Richards, 10; Quinn Abela, 11; and Cooper Browne, 10, were recently selected for the Sydney Swans Academy.
The Sydney Swans Academy is a coaching and training program which recruits and develops the state's best young athletes, shaping them into potential AFL players.
The academy was established in 2010 by the Sydney Swans to develop and draft home-grown talent into their playing ranks.
It also aims to grow the national talent pool for the AFL, and all clubs in the competition have the opportunity to recruit graduates of the program.
The academy identifies talented boys and nurtures them through a long-term elite development program under the guidance of expert coaches.
Each year, about 500 boys andteenagers typically aged between 11 and 19 are involved in the program, which operates in Sydney and NSW regional centres.
Several former academy members, including Brandon Jack, Lloyd Perris and Sam Naismith, recently progressed to the senior ranks at the Sydney Swans.
The Kiama players will attend one of the regional locations, its Illawarra Academy at North Dalton Park.
Aside from training once a week in Wollongong, they will also train once a month in Sydney.
Junior club president Mark Deans said having four players selected at once was exciting for the Power.
He said the first cut-off occurred after about four years in the program, and from there "if you're good enough, you keep going".
"Over the years we've had a few go through it, but never had this many at once," he said.
"I'd say that's because of our numbers. Our numbers have really grown; we've got 160 juniors this year, five years ago we'd have had 80."
Deans attributed this increased interest in the sport within Kiama to the efforts of the club's Auskick coach Dirk Ovenden.
"[His numbers] have grown from eight to 55, and that filters through to older age groups," Deans said.
Cooper Browne plays midfield for the Power under-12s side.
He said he was excited about the prospect of the academy, having started playing AFL at age four. He also plays rugby league, but prefers AFL.
Cooper said he enjoyed playing the game with his friends, as well as the teamwork aspect of the sport.
