Gold Coast Suns players are ready and raring for their first taste Telstra AFL Community Camp, which is due to kick off this Saturday.
Thursday, 3 February, 2011
Gold Coast Suns players are ready and raring for their first taste Telstra AFL Community Camp, which is due to kick off this Saturday.
The traditional pre-NAB CUP Community Week program sees all 17 AFL clubs commit their experience and resources to communities around Australia to help spread the word about the benefits of the sport generally, but most of all for young people.
This year the Suns will be staying smack bang in the middle of its heartland.
Between 5 February and 8 February as many as 20,000 Gold Coast footy fans are expected to get a taste of what their club can offer at various venues over the Gold Coast region.
The club’s Community Camp activities will kick off at 9.00am on Saturday 5 February will be a club sign-on day at Broadwater Parklands at which all 12 junior AFLQ clubs will be represented.
The Suns playing squad will be there to sign autographs, meet and greet fans and share a kick and a catch with potential stars of the future. Gold Coast Mayor Ron Clarke will be on hand to launch the event.
On Sunday, Suns players who recently earned their Bronze Medallions will be at Kurrawa SLSC to formally receive their awards and celebrate the important role of sporting institutions in the community.
The next morning, players and coaches will visit Gold Coast schools to launch the AFL’s “Are you smarter than an AFL player” quiz initiative.
In the afternoon, a visit to local hospitals by the players will be followed by a Gold Coast AFL Talent Academy training session at the club’s Carrara headquarters.
The club’s Community Week activities will wind up on Tuesday when fans can be ‘up close and personal’ at club open training session at Beenleigh Buffaloes AFC between 2-4pm. Suns players will mingle with junior footballers at a post-training Superclinic.
At the same time members of the Suns coaching panel will hold a coaching forum for local coaches.
According to Suns Community Programs Manager Corey Bell, participating in AFL Community Week is a natural fit for a club that prides itself on the strength and quality of its community involvement.
“We are extraordinarily lucky to have such a passionate AFL community here on the Gold Coast and we are committed to making sure we make a genuine contribution in our own backyard,” Bell said.
He said the club’s visit to Beenleigh on the final day of Community Week, Tuesday 8 February, was especially important.
“When we first arrived here on the Gold Coast we made a firm commitment to actively supporting our local community through our work in the Northern Growth Corridor, so our visit to Beenleigh is another step in the right direction in terms of fulfilling what we see as a really important obligation.”
