By Victoria Stone-Meadows
Cranbourne-based education charity the ACE Foundation and Cranbourne Toyota have given students from three schools in the area a once in a lifetime AFL experience.
On Friday 28 July, 24 students and three teachers from Hampton Park Secondary College, Cranbourne Secondary College and Cranbourne East Secondary College were whisked off to the MCG for what they thought was a day at the footy.
However, on the journey to the stadium the students were given gift bags containing drink bottles, pens, mini footballs, Planet Ark T-shirts, and signed Marcus Stoinis posters.
The surprises didn’t end there though, with the students and teachers being greeted at the MCG by Collingwood premiership player Ben Reid.
From there, the guests were taken on a tour of the Collingwood facilities by Mr Reid, which included time for selfies and a bit of kick to kick.
The guests were then walked into the grounds of MCG to make their way to their seats to watch the Hawks take on the Swans.
Students and teachers also had an opportunity to tour the underground and rarely seen areas of the stadium.
A lucky and knowledgeable student from Cranbourne East Secondary won six medallion club tickets and two parking passes to the Collingwood and Melbourne game by answering questions correctly, in a quiz given by Mr Reid.
These tickets were donated by Cranbourne Toyota.
Teresa Muratore from the ACE Foundation said everyone had a great time and the students couldn’t have been happier.
“The screams, the excitement, the looks on their faces were so priceless,” she said.
“They had a once in a lifetime AFL experience attending the game, going onto the ground, they certainly got spoilt and thoroughly enjoyed themselves.”
The trip was made possible with the generous donation of the football tickets by Cranbourne Toyota and the hard work of the ACE Foundation.
