Swans Elevate Footy program a great success

It might not have turned out the year on the field with Swan Districts that Zane Trew and Jake Pasini hoped, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t still doing good things and have been heavily involved in the recent Elevate Football Program at the Youth Hub.

The Youth Hub is proving to be a tremendous success since taking up residence at Steel Blue Oval with a whole variety of programs, and that has included the recent Elevate Football Program.

Swans Elevate Footy was a new initiative that ran for the first time this year available to 11 to 14 year olds with the outlook to provide those involved the chance to get moving and build something for yourself through the power of sport and connection.

That was done with a mix of footy skill development with mentoring activities also available inside the Youth Hub along with coaching and mentoring from Swan Districts players including Trew and Pasini.

The sessions were held every Tuesday at Steel Blue Oval and proved to be a tremendous success with Trew proud to be part of it.

“The program we were running out of the footy club was an opportunity for kids from different local clubs to come and get a bit of an insight into what it takes to make the next step with their footy,” Trew said.

“Myself along with a few other players ran the kids through skill drills that we have done ourselves and taught the importance of working on the fundamentals of football. As well as that we played a few games to give that competitive side and have a bit of fun which is what it’s all about.

“The kids really bought into what we were doing and it was a good opportunity for them to mix with players from different clubs, hopefully they got something out of it and really enjoyed it as much as we did.”

Trew was in his first season back at Swan Districts following his time in the AFL at the West Coast Eagles and part of that has been working at the club with things like the Elevate Footy program as part of the Youth Hub.

He knew how important such access to a program would have been and how quickly he would have jumped at it when he was that age, so he was keen to get involved to help the next generation.

“I really enjoyed working with all the kids and seeing how passionate and keen they are to learn and get better,” Trew said.

“It reminded me of myself at that age just loving the game and wanting to get the most out of myself, which makes me grateful to now be able to help them and give a bit of insight into what I’ve learnt at the level I’ve played at and hopefully inspire them to do the same.

“Hopefully we can see a few of them in the black and white jumper or even in the AFL in the years to come.”

What Swan Districts has made a focus of is being much more than just a place people of all ages, abilities and genders can come play football, but to also be a community hub in so many different ways.

It’s certainly an aspect of the club that Trew has fully embraced upon his return.

“Definitely, in the short time I’ve been there it’s been good to come in and see kids get some use out of the facilities we have,” he said.

“Similar to the footy program it’s good for kids of all backgrounds to come in and hang out with each other and meet new people. Would love to see more kids come through in the future.”

Trew was set to have a significant on the field in his return to Swan Districts in 2025 as well but in the end only managed the three games before his season was over just as it was starting from an ankle injury.

While frustrating and disappointing, it also gave Trew the time to sit back and take stock of where he was at with his football coming off his time in the AFL at the Eagles.

“It’s actually been a good year to sit back and reflect on my football and take a step back from it, and even life in general to be honest,” Trew said.

“Footy has been my whole life for as long as I can remember. As much as I was really looking forward to a massive first year at the club, life’s all about perspective and I think that having this year and the ups and downs it’s had with injury and whatnot, it’s allowed me to reset and I feel really motivated and refreshed moving into this pre-season.”

Trew and Pasini were in similar boats this year in terms of being sidelined through injury from early on. They will be like new recruits with AFL-list experience in 2026, but for Trew he’s also enjoyed the bond everyone in the rehab group built throughout the year as frustrating as it was.

“Yeah definitely there were unfortunately a lot of boys in the same position with injury this year and even still now in the off-season,” Trew said.

“It’s a great crew we have and as much as it hurts the footy club having so many players out with injury, for the boys that were injured it was good to not be alone in it.

“Rehab can be a lonely place when doing it alone but when we had a handful of us going through the same thing we had a lot of time to hang out and support each other which was a positive out of it.

“I know every single one of those boys have been putting in the work and I’m looking forward to hopefully seeing our squad fully fit to start 2026.”