Multicultural families gathered at Gunns Road Reserve on 28 June for Casey Community Connect, a registration event hosted by Bakhtar Community Organisation (BCO) in partnership with AFL Victoria.
The family-friendly sessions gave young people from diverse backgrounds a chance to try out footy and sign up for a free 8 to 10-week training program with professional coaches.
“We are introducing the youth in the community around the south east area to football, and at the same time, AFL would like to get engaged in the multicultural community,” founder and chief executive of BCO Bassir Qadiri said.
“We saw an opportunity that we can connect the multicultural community to celebrate something that we have in common, which is Australian sport.”
Mr Qadiri said after careful discussion, they believed that if it were a free session, more people could be engaged in the program.
“We had a lot of registration last week, and we are expecting more people this Saturday,” he said.
“This is the last chance for the community to come and register for the positions.”
Another registration event will be held from 1pm to 2pm on Saturday 5 July at Gunns Road Reserve in Hallam.
The official training session will start in two weeks.