The Melbourne Football Club Academy is proving a great breeding ground for emerging multicultural and indigenous talent with four members of the Academy competing in last week’s 2019 AFL Under-15 Diversity Cup.

Finn Emile-Brennan (Rye), Alan Alexander (Beleura/Mt Martha) and Jarvis Williams-Moses (Rosebud) represented the All-Nations State Academy, with Archie McGuiness (Pearcedale/Baxter) lining up for the Kick-Start State Academy.

Held annually, AFL Victoria’s Kickstart program provides young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men the opportunity to develop both their football and life skills in a culturally safe environment, while the All Nations program nurtures and develops Under-15 footballers from multicultural backgrounds.

From left; Finn Emile-Brennan (Rye), Archie McGuiness (Pearcedale/Baxter), Alan Alexander (Beleura/Mt Martha) and Jarvis Williams-Moses (Rosebud) took part in the 2019 AFL Diversity Cup.

The four boys, all from the Mornington Peninsula Junior Football League (MPJFL), took part in the Diversity Cup – part of 2019 Cultural Diversity Week – after a lengthy build-up process, beginning in October last year.

All Victorian AFL clubs ran a diversity program which culminated in a competitive hit out against other AFL clubs. Roughly 200 players were selected from these games to attend a High-Performance testing day at the Essendon Football Club in February.

At the completion of the testing day, the squad was reduced to 80 players with these participants invited to a weekend camp and final practice match. Final squads of 30 players were then selected to represent the All-Nations and Kick-Start squads in the Diversity Cup.

Over 54,000 multicultural participants were involved in Australian Football in Victoria last year.

Those interested in joining this year’s Melbourne Football Club Academy can register by clicking the link below.

Melbourne Football Club Academy – Flyer/Registration

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