AFL Western District to host Multicultural Round on Saturday May 14

The round - which has been several years in the making with COVID-19 interrupting plans - will see matches from the Warrnambool District and Hampden leagues throw open the gates to help integrate and encourage multicultural communities to get involved in the game.

The event will be free for people who register their attendance at the event, with families and guests to have access to free food, family activities, an introduction to the game and information about grants available to signup for a club.

Region general manager Jason Muldoon said it was the perfect opportunity to further grow the game in the area.

"It's potentially our biggest growth area, there's a lot of multicultural families moving to the region for work and there's an abundance of work for people moving out of the city," he said.

"It's incumbent on us to share the game with these people with the hope of engaging them.

"That doesn't have to be as a player, but it could be as an administrator, or a volunteer.

"For the growth and prosperity of our game, we need to interact with the multicultural groups that are moving to the region."

MORE SPORT:

Each club will be responsible on the day for providing a chaperone to the registered people, with each match to host a half-time function where different multicultural groups can interact.

AFL Western District game development officer Eddie Guerrero said it was an exciting initiative.

"For me being part of the multicultural community, it's a great opportunity to show the people in the region that AFL is not only for Australians," he said.

"It's an opportunity for people from overseas like myself to get involved in the community, understand about the cultural of the game but it's an opportunity for the families to get involved, learn but also understand the game and what it means to be involved in a team."

Guerrero said it was important for the community to get behind the round.

"It's good to get an insight on your neighbours, but it's an opportunity to get an understanding of the diversity in the community," he said.

"It's important to learn about the different communities in the region."

To register for the event head to www.surveymonkey.com/r/AFLWD-Multicultural-Round or head to AFL Western District's Facebook page.

List of games:

Warrnambool v South Warrnambool (Reid Oval)

Koroit v Cobden (Victoria Park)

South Rovers v Nirranda (Walter Oval)

Timboon Demons v Panmure (Timboon Rec Reserve)

Dennington v Old Collegians (Dennington Rec Reserve)

Russells Creek v Kolora Noorat (Mack Oval)

Merrivale v Allansford (Merrivale Rec Reserve)

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can access our trusted content:

Now just one tap with our new app: Digital subscribers now have the convenience of faster news, right at your fingertips with The Standard: