A group of AFL NT delegates have undertaken a regional tour of the Northern Territory this as part of the new regional focus of the AFL NT and also to promote the NT Thunder program.
As part of AFL Northern Territory’s new ‘Regional Focus,’ a traveling party left TIO Stadium this week to tour regional Northern Territory in an effort to get a better understanding of the issues they are facing and to promote the AFL programs throughout the remote communities.
“The main aim of this is to get an understanding of how football is going in regional Northern Territory and to promote our major development programs such as Qantas AFL KickStart and the new NT Thunder within these areas,” said AFL NT CEO Tony Frawley.
Also on the road is Stuart Totham the CEO of NT Thunder. “This is a great way we can promote the club and show the opportunities we can offer to the talented footballers out in these regions.”
On hand to provide assistance and support to the regional development managers who are situated throughout regional Northern Territory is Game Development Manager Kevin Bruce. “We are actively pursuing and growing our development team and programs throughout the Territory, this is a major focus of ours over the next two to three years,” said Bruce.
Another reason behind the trip is to check in on the affiliates of AFL NT, including AFL Katherine, AFL Barkly, and the CAFL. “We are looking to provide more support and structure to our affiliate leagues during this tour. It will enable us to gauge the strengths and weaknesses of each league and how we can develop them further,” said AFL NT Football Operations Manager Marc Turri who has joined the regional tour.
AFL Indigenous Ambassador Michael Long joined the tour to assist promoting the various AFL NT programs. Long was at Mataranka on Wednesady handing out NT Thunder Caps and stickers to local children (see attached photo).
The tour will visit a number of areas and rural townships including Katherinie, Tennant Creek, Ali Curung, Ti Tree and also Barunga for the School Sport NT U’15 Championships.
After leaving Darwin on Wednesday the regional tour will conclude in Alice Springs this Saturday ahead of the QAFL match between the NT Thunder and the Aspley Hornets at Traeger Park.