World Footy News

The selection of Kieran Jack to debut for the Sydney Swans this weekend in the AFL is a true example of the value of footy development. Kieran is the son of rugby league legend Gary Jack who represented Balmain, NSW and Australia - showing that in a city dominated by rugby league, and where it had long been said that Aussie rules would not get local kids to play the game, the attractions of the game can overcome.

Unlike some others whose family had strong ties to other sports it was not relocation to an Aussie rules state that bought him to the game. It was a local Sydney development initiative the Paul Kelly Cup that brought the game to Kieran Jack while at West Pennant Hills Primary school in 1998 when he was just 11. From then on he was hooked and continued to be groomed through the development system to his drafting by the Swans and to his debut this weekend.

A well balanced article in the Sydney Daily Telegraph covers the journey and his father’s reaction to his son’s chosen path. Perhaps not so balanced is the comment posted below the article by a reader, but this perhaps shows that local hostility to our game that Jack’s AFL career has developed alongside.

The relevance to World Footy is that this is a prime example of what can come of junior development in places that have strong historical and cultural ties in local communities to other sports. Providing the opportunity for kids to try our game under properly run and supported conditions can reap some rich rewards.