“As I have a lot of girls volunteering during the school terms, the footyWILD holiday program not only helped the girls improve their coaching and knowledge of the game but the touch footyWILD concept also gave them a chance to play which they have often asked about,” said Kabelo Seoka, FDM for Dr Ruth Mompati region.

The inaugural school holiday footyWILD program just wrapped up in the North West Province recently has been a huge success and testament to the innovative approach and determination of Provincial Development Manager July Machethe and his team of enthusiastic footyWILD Development Managers (FDM’s).

The resourceful team from the founding Province of AFL in South Africa, believed the mid-year school break provided a great opportunity to transfer some ownership back on to the 132 volunteers that operate the North West footyWILD centres during the school terms, by encouraging them to deliver a range of activities that would re-inforce old skills and introduce new ones to their peers.

Some regions suggested that the time would be best spent revisiting the coaching principles of footyWILD’s BIG 5 skills, others suggested a focus on youth and senior coaching and umpiring for volunteers whilst others still, liked the idea of trialling of a touch version of footyWILD so that girls could play alongside the boys. There was also talk of showcasing the AFL game through organized viewing sessions at local venues such as abandoned cinemas.

As a result of the initial brainstorming sessions amongst the North West staff, a 3 week schedule of activities was designed for Provincial roll-out in all twelve of the North West's footyWILD centres.

The majority of the workshops were facilitated by the volunteers themselves with feedback provided by their peers.

Kabelo Seoka, FDM for Dr Ruth Mompati region was pleased that the program provided opportunities for his female volunteers in Vryburg,

“As I have a lot of girls volunteering during the school terms, the footyWILD holiday program not only helped the girls improve their coaching and knowledge of the game but the touch footyWILD concept also gave them a chance to play which they have often asked about,” said Kabelo.

Bojanala Region FDM Mohau Khasu saw a different outcome for his volunteers in Rustenburg, “We used a local unused cinema in Rustenburg to screen AFL games every Thursday and the theatre was always full because our volunteers encouraged their friends as well as other footyWILD High and Extreme players to come along – we even had a local girls soccer team joining us to watch the AFL matches who said they were interested in starting a ladies team in the future - some of those girls are now umpiring with us which is great for team morale,” said Mohau.

The school holiday program managed by the FDM’s and facilitated by the North West volunteers promises to be even better in 2010 with plans to run a similar program in the April break before the season starts.