The Western Bulldogs and the Western Region Football League have teamed up to kick-start the return of junior footballers to their local clubs in 2022.

After two years ravaged by the covid-19 pandemic, the Kicking in for the Kids campaign aims to reduce the financial burden on families and encourage junior footballers in the western region to get back on the field.

The initiative has been made possible by the generous support of Bulldogs partners, including Mission Foods, CoinSpot, PEDIGREE, ASICS and McDonald’s.

The project will assist the families of approximately 5000 junior footballers playing in the under 8 to under 16 age categories at WRFL junior clubs, with more than $100,000 covering the league registration fee for each child in 2022.

Over 1300 training footballs will be also delivered to junior clubs in the region as part of the initiative.

“The last couple of years have been extremely challenging for everyone, with the state of the pandemic in Victoria causing community football leagues across the state to either cancel, postpone or reduce their season lengths,” said Bulldogs’ CEO Ameet Bains.

“This has resulted in thousands of kids in our heartland not being able to socialise with their friends on the football field, remain active, and most of all enjoy the game of AFL.

“We are grateful to the WRFL for their support in developing the Kicking in for the Kids campaign, and we hope it will relieve some of the burden for families after what has been a difficult time.

“We’d like to give special thanks to our partners in Mission Foods, CoinSpot, PEDIGREE, ASICS and McDonald’s for their incredible generosity.  Their support will help thousands of kids in the west get back to doing what they love most.”

A WRFL Community Football Fund will also be established for season 2022, which will allow all WRFL junior clubs the opportunity to receive additional funding throughout the year for items like equipment and apparel.

“Junior football clubs and participants across the country have been hit hard the past two years, and the western suburbs have been no exception,” said WRFL CEO Matthew Duck.

“This is a wonderful initiative with a long-standing partner of the WRFL in the Western Bulldogs that we are proud to be involved in.

“While club fees or ‘club subs’ remain unchanged, we hope the covering of the League player registration fee acts as a small step in acknowledging some of those hardships faced and in welcoming back all kids to local junior footy.”

In a joint statement from Mission Foods, CoinSpot, PEDIGREE, ASICS and McDonald’s, the Bulldogs partners said they were thrilled to throw their support behind such a worthwhile initiative.

“We’re proud to support the mighty west’s next generation of footy-lovers to get back on the field and enjoy the game, by removing some of the cost as a barrier,” the statement read.

“It’s important to get community sport back up and running for mental, physical and community engagement reasons.

“This is a heart-felt initiative that gets right down to the grass roots of communities and what binds them together.

“We want to put a smile on every child’s face who has missed out on two years of friendships, playful rivalry, physical and social development.”