AFL Goldfields is pleased to announce the appointment of Junior Oneone to a newly-created Multicultural Trainee role.
Whilst employed by AFL Victoria, Oneone will spend three days each week working with AFL Goldfields based out of RDFNL House in Arnold’s Creek, Melton West, and will be tasked with bringing football into schools in the Melton and western metropolitan region, focusing primarily on multicultural involvement.
Oneone, who is of Tongan descent and who moved to Australia when he was five years old, is excited about introducing his adopted sport to children who may not have been introduced to football before.
“I want to show kids how good a sport footy is”, Oneone commented recently.
“In my culture, all of the kids play rugby, and it wasn’t until I started playing footy a couple of years ago that I realized how much fun it is”.
“I want other kids, especially in my culture, to see what I saw and to fall in love with footy”.
After playing rugby in his formative years, Oneone first experienced Aussie Rules football when he followed friends down to Melton Centrals in 2013, and has been a convert ever since.
“I went [to Centrals] with some friends from school, had a kick and immediately fell in love with the game”.
Oneone’s football development has been swift – after playing one game in Centrals’ Under 14 side in 2012, he quickly found his feet in the game and by 2014, he was representing the Riddell District FNL at Under 18 level in the Worksafe AFL Victoria Country Championships, and made his RDFNL senior debut with Centrals in 2015, playing 15 games.
Oneone also went through the Western Jets training program, which threw up a career opportunity he wasn’t expecting.
“[AFL Victoria Diversity Manager] Xavier Moloney came up to me and offered me this job, which I was excited to accept”, Oneone recalls.
Oneone’s role will see him work closely with AFL Goldfields Football Development Manager Grant McMillan in his three days at RDFNL House each week, spending the other two days with the Werribee Football Club, where he is also doing pre-season training to further advance his skills.
AFL Goldfields Regional General Manager Rod Ward is thrilled with the appointment, giving AFL Goldfields a valuable resource in the Melton area.
“It’s no secret that participation rates for football in Melton are amongst the lowest in the state, and we’re confident that having Junior on board that we’ll start to see participation in the region grow”, Ward commented.
“Junior is a quality person, and we’re extremely excited to have him join our team at AFL Goldfields.”
“We’re looking forward to having Junior visit schools and teach kids from a multicultural background about football, which will have an effect on not just local junior clubs in the Riddell District FNL, but at all levels of the game”.
Oneone started his employment with AFL Victoria on Monday 29th November, and will be based at RDFNL House in Arnold’s Creek on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays throughout 2016 from Monday 11th January.
Last Modified on 14/12/2015 09:41