We are excited to announce that AFL Masters has been successful in receiving a grant of $327,360 when the Australian Sports Commission announced its list of recipients for their Play Well Participation Project earlier today.

Sports including surfing, golf, badminton, table tennis, AFL Masters, rugby league, softball and orienteering will receive funding to expand their existing programs and welcome more people to sport.

AFL Masters plan to use the grant to launch AFL Masters FamilyKick, a new national program aimed to encourage more children, middle-aged/older men and women, including new migrants, to safely participate in Australian Football.

AFL Masters President Steve Eurell said that he was ecstatic with the funding success as it will help with achieving AFL Masters’ Strategic Plan which was released last year.

“The AFL Masters National Board are delighted with this funding as the grant perfectly aligns with our GROW Strategy and would like to thank all States & Territories who supported our original Grant Application,” said Eurell.

“Significantly, the AFL were not successful in their Grant application whilst Masters Swimming ($132,000) were the only other Masters organisation amongst the 69 projects to receive a share of Sport Australia’s $10.3M in funding.”

The Minister for Sport, The Hon Anika Wells MP, says all Australians will benefit from these programs.

“Indigenous communities, regional and remote areas and people with disability are at the heart of so many of these projects to help ensure sport is fun and accessible for anyone who wants to be involved,” Minister Wells* said.

AFL Masters General Manager Dr Adrian Raftery says that FamilyKick is an extension of the successful QuickKick program that AFL Masters launched across the country in 2022.

“Designed to be fun and inclusive, the project builds on our successful QuickKick program to provide a pathway for time-poor and budget-conscious parents to progress, with their child, from AusKick to Community AFL clubs and ultimately AFL Masters to take up roles as players, coaches or officials with confidence gained from learning fundamental skills,” said Raftery.

Australian Sports Commission CEO Kieren Perkins OAM said the program will now reach even more Australians after receiving an additional $17.3 million in the 2024-25 Federal Budget to extend the program for a further two years.

“Thanks to the Australian Government, this vital program has already helped more than 500,000 participants and can continue to make it easier for even more Australians to get active.”

“Creating great sporting environments is central to the nation’s first Sport Participation Strategy and these projects will help us in our goal to transform sport participation ahead of and beyond Brisbane 2032 so that everyone feels welcome.”

The Strategy calls on Australians to Play Well and create safe, welcoming and fun sporting environments where people of all ages, backgrounds, genders and abilities can come together to access the benefits of sport.

More information on the Participation Grant program and a list of successful recipients is available on the ASC website.

Raftery said that the FamilyKick program aims to provide long-term benefits of coaching, being physically active, less cost-prohibitive whilst playing for fun with social interaction amongst families and aged peers.

“For those attending the National Carnival it is anticipated that we will formally launch AFL Masters FamilyKick on Friday 27 September in Fremantle where we should have a strong family representation from all our State & Territory AFL Masters bodies.”

More details with the planned rollout of the FamilyKick program will follow so stay tuned for more information as its released in coming months!

Any queries about the AFL Masters FamilyKick program can be directed to either AFL Masters President Steve Eurell president@aflmasters.com.au or our General Manager, Adrian Raftery generalmanager@aflmasters.com.au