AFLX a big winner with Clontarf Academies

The second annual Clontarf Foundation AFLX carnival was staged yesterday (Tuesday 5 March) in Port Macquarie.

The carnival is a partnership between AFL North Coast and the Clontarf Foundation and provides an opportunity to encourage and reward Clontarf students for having a positive attendance and discipline record at school.

Six teams from Clontarf Academies at Chatham High (Taree), Hastings Secondary College (Port), Melville High (Kempsey), and Kempsey High participated, which represented 50% growth on the inaugural year.

Although many of the boys were playing any form of AFL for the first time their natural athleticism came to the fore with the fast paced AFLX format proving the perfect vehicle for the boys to strut their stuff. All players quickly learnt the game and the free flowing passages throughout the day were a joy to watch.

The Grand Final saw the Melville Academy Tigers overcome a spirited effort by the Chatham Brothers in what was their first time at the tournament.

The Melville Academy Tigers were presented with the “T-Bone Cup”, named after Tony T-Bone Delaney, Clontarf’s Regional Manager, who played 76 AFL matches with Essendon, Fremantle, and St Kilda.

The Clontarf Foundation exists to improve the education, discipline, life skills, self-esteem and employment prospects of young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men and by doing so equips them to participate meaningfully in society. The vehicle for achieving this outcome is football. The Foundation uses the existing passion that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander boys have for football to attract them into school and keep them there.