The best young footballers from the region were on show during a match between the AFL Wimmera Mallee and AFL Goldfields in Ararat on Wednesday.
The Goldfields team got the win but the result was not the important part, with the Western Bulldogs Next Generation Academy manager David Newton attending to take notes from the game.
The academy is designed to increase participation in football across the country with the reigning AFL premiers assigned the Western Victoria region to develop.
Newton said these matches were an important part of the academy’s development program.
“This program is a key pathway to assisting in the identification for the players going through the program,” he said.
Newton said it was a collaborative effort from a lot of people to ensure the academy is successful.
“We want to get them in at a younger age and from here they will transition across to the Greater Western Victoria Rebels.”
