On Tuesday the 26th of May, Western Bulldogs players attended 4 separate Auskick Super-clinics around the Western Region. These were located at Melton, St. Albans, Sayers Rd (Point Cook), and at Whitten Oval. Across the venues there were over 500 participants having fun, whilst practising their football skills.

There were just under 100 Auskick participants ranging from Grade Prep to 6 at the Whitten Oval Super-clinic, with the majority wearing the Western Bulldogs jerseys in support of their favourite team.

After a brief welcome to the young boys and girls by Shaun Higgins, each player introduced themselves, saying what number they wore, and how many games they had played for the club, and then the clinic began.

There were five activity stations planned for the afternoon, with 2 Bulldogs players at each station. Five groups of children each spent 10 minutes at each station, so they got to experience each activity, and meet every player. A whistle blown at the 10 minute mark sent groups of children running in excitement to the next station, eager to meet the players and try a new activity.

At Station 1, Jarrad Boumann and Tim Callan ran handballing drills, with the participants handballing the footballs to them, and also conducted a variety of other games to keep the kids interested, including tunnel-ball.

At Station 2, Matthew Boyd and Andrejs Everitt were in charge of a similar drill involving kicking. At the end of the activities the children had shots for goal. Footballs flew everywhere, but it was clear they had a great time.

On to the third station, where Shaun Higgins and Tom Williams had the kids running around, demonstrating zig-zag bouncing and other ball handling skills.

For the fourth station, Brad Johnson had the task of demonstrating goal kicking from various points around the inside-50. Once again, footballs went all over the place, but the kids really loved lining up for goal!

Finally, at the fifth station, Brennan Stack and Easton Wood demonstrated to the youngsters how to mark a football, both on the chest and overhead, while incorporating a bit of fun into the activities.

At the conclusion of the clinic, the players obligingly signed autographs for all of the excited participants, signing jerseys, hats, stickers, posing for photos and chatting to the children. It was a very successful afternoon, and the Bulldogs players showed professionalism, enthusiasm and good humour throughout the clinic.

Thanks to the Western Bulldogs Football Club for the use of Whitten Oval; the staff members who helped run the day; and the players for sharing their knowledge. We would also like to thank the SEDA Students who supervised the groups. Well done to all the Auskick participants on the day.