Volunteers are the lifeblood of community sport and clubs from the AFL South East region have the opportunity to have their hard-working contributors recognised in a big way.

Nominations are now open for the 2019 AFL National Volunteer of the Year Awards.

The AFL Volunteer of the Year Program is a volunteer recognition program which commenced as part of the Australian Football 150 years celebration, rewarding seven outstanding volunteers with a trip of a lifetime for them and a partner.

In 2018, there were 209,000 volunteers who supported more than 1.6 million participants across 4103 NAB AFL Auskick centres, 2685 clubs and 257 community leagues.

All NAB AFL Auskick Centres, Schools, Community Clubs and Leagues from across the country are encouraged to nominate an outstanding individual who has made a significant contribution to their community.

Three new categories have been introduced to the AFL National Volunteer of the Year program in 2019, with the addition of an AFL Disability Inclusion Volunteer award, AFL Junior Coach award and AFL Senior Coach award.

The 2019 AFL National Volunteer Award categories are:

• AFL Community Football Volunteer
• NAB AFL Auskick Volunteer
• AFL Diversity Ambassador
• AFL Primary School Ambassador
• AFL Secondary School Ambassador
• AFL Disability Inclusion Volunteer (New)
• AFL Junior Coach (New)
• AFL Senior Coach (New)

Each State/Territory will evaluate the nominations and determine their winners across each Volunteer category.

All eight State/Territory category winners will be acknowledged for their contribution at the 2020 Toyota Good for Footy AFL National Volunteer Awards in May where a National Volunteer of the Year winner from each category will be announced.

The eight lucky National Volunteer of the Year winners from each category will receive a once in a lifetime experience which includes a trip to Melbourne (except Victoria) for them and a guest to the 2020 Toyota AFL Grand Final festivities.

This includes an opportunity to walk in the 2020 Toyota AFL Grand Final Day parade, tickets to AFL Grand Final Day functions and two tickets to the 2020 Toyota AFL Grand Final.

Toyota Australia will be the official naming rights partner of the awards from 2020, with the program to be renamed the Toyota Good for Footy AFL National Volunteer Awards.

Nominations for the 2019 AFL National Volunteer of the Year program can be submitted online via the links below.

CLICK HERE for community football nominations

CLICK HERE for NAB AFL Auskick nominations

CLICK HERE for school ambassador nominations

AFL Victoria and AFL South East would like to take this opportunity to thank the many thousands of volunteers who contribute to our game across all football competitions and participation programs around the state and region.