2019 Will Be Another Productive Year For The Club

Swan Districts Football Club continues to transform from a traditional focused football club to a community enabler. It’s been busy building community partnerships, creating new programs and growing existing ones. New outreach programs to be delivered in 2019 will include:

• Making Your Mark, a program working with Indigenous high school kids at risk of disconnecting from community.
• A youth engagement program helping teenagers at risk better integrate with community.
• A program engaging with people with disability in schools and Integrated/All Ability football clubs assisting them and their carers and families better connect with mainstream community.
• Working closer with junior football clubs including providing 380 Auskick kids in six clubs with new playing jumpers, providing food hampers helping clubs provide meals to kids in need and providing 350 weekly Coach’s Awards for all Year 6 junior club coaches to present to a player after every game this season. Swans will also be significantly increasing the number of player visits (WAFL and WAFLW) to schools and junior clubs.

In 2017, the club reset its purpose, vision and values. Its purpose is to build community and develop people. The vision is to be a well-connected and community-engaged football club which improves social outcomes and the sense of wellbeing within the wider Swans community. And the club’s values driving this new strategy are to act with integrity, everyone matters, raise the bar to be the best you can, and we fly together.

This season the club will also create the opportunity for four local Year 11/12 boys teams to play full fixtured competition games on WAFL home games at Steel Blue Oval (on Saturday 15 May and 3 August). Also, six girls junior football teams will play three full fixtured competition games on WAFLW home games (on Sunday 5 and 12 May and Saturday 15 June). Swans also has three Integrated/All Ability games scheduled on WAFL home game days including the curtain raiser on the annual Count Me In Day.

Swans is also delivering a mental health program for its senior men’s and all three women’s teams. In the future this will be extended to the club’s support staff, volunteers and junior football clubs. The club realises the importance of creating a safe and secure place where everyone can feel that it’s ok to talk to someone about their personal challenges.

And it doesn’t stop there. Swans is also continuing to transform its WAFL and WAFLW home games to create a more festive atmosphere for supporters. Match days will be more than just a football game.

There’ll be free games in the Swans Play Zone for kids including a full radical run, bouncy castles, spider mountain, mechanical surfboard, a drawing table and tower block/giant jenga games. There’ll also be chances to win prizes in a handball competition in the play zone in the first quarter, a longest kick or dance competition on the oval at quarter time, Chase the Swan at three quarter time and of course $100 every game in Bin It to Win It at half time (so bring a footy!). There’s also 44 free mini Swans footies given away by WAFL and WAFLW League players before every home game.

The club has also upgraded the ground audio system. There’ll be music to help build a festive atmosphere and past captain Tallan Ames will be the club’s roving MC interviewing fans and providing spot giveaways. This season fans will also get to meet a new club mascot.

The first men’s WAFL home game of the 2019 season will be on Saturday 6 April against South Fremantle. The first women’s WAFLW home game is scheduled for Sunday 5 May against Subiaco. It’s free entry for children 15 years and under.