Young Pup Callan Ward won't have to look far for support on Sunday afternoon when he dons the boots for his AFL game at the Dome.

More than 50 of his closest friends and family will be sitting in the stands cheering him on after rushing out to get tickets this week.

"I think my friends have bought out as many tickets as they can. I think I have about 60 friends plus family!" he said.

A real local lad done good, Callan balances football life with that of your average teenager as he is still in his last year at Williamstown High School.

"I manage ok thanks to the support I get from my family and from the staff and coaches at the Bulldogs. They help me plan my schedule around classes and they are always down at the Elite Learning Centre whenever I get there after school," he said today.

Callan was told yesterday by Senior Coach Rodney Eade that he would be playing his first match this weekend.

"I couldn't believe it really. I was really nervous after I was told but now I am more excited than anything,"  he said.

Callan believes he has benefited from being drafted by a Club so close to his home that he can walk to training.

"Being drafted to the Bulldogs was awesome because I didn't have to change schools, I can walk to training and I still have my family and friends close by if I need them so I have been really luck."

"I have school five days a week and there are at least six football sessions I will attend in and around my school hours. But I think so far I’m finding a good balance between both.

When I’m at training I just think about training and what I’ve got to do at each session to try and improve. At school it’s pretty similar, I go there to learn and improve too but I can also take my mind of training because it’s a totally different thing. I think if I was just doing football, it would always be football, football, football and that would be quite a change in lifestyle after being a student for such a long time," he said.
So for all you Callan Ward and Doggies fans get out there on Sunday and cheer on the local son of the west and takes on the mighty St Kilda side.