Stonnington hosts pilot AFL program for deaf and hard of hearing players

Stonnington has recently hosted Deaf Auskick and AFL 9s for Deaf and Hard of Hearing players over the past few weekends, as part of a pilot program run in partnership with Deaf Sports Australia and the AFL.

As the name suggests, AFL 9s is a modified version of football with nine players on each team. It is a non-contact sport played on a smaller field.

At present, the AFL offers inclusion programs for people who are blind, use a wheelchair, or with an intellectual disability – but not yet for people who are deaf or hard of hearing. Deaf Sports Australia and the AFL are keen to work together to bring this program into the fold.

Stonnington hosted the program this year after the 2022 program, planned for a different local government area, was postponed because of extreme wet weather in October.

As one of the earliest local governments to partner with Get Skilled Access (developers of the Sport4All program), Stonnington was a natural fit for the program – allowing children to come and try AFL Auskick in a tailored environment according to their abilities.

Phil Harper General Manager of Deaf Sports Australia advised “the program provides an accessible and safe space for young deaf and hard of hearing kids to try and enjoy AFL Auskick.

“This would give them confidence to go on and join Auskick locally as well as play footy as they get older.”

The Melbourne program follows previous events in Brisbane and Perth, with each seeing dozens of participants take part in 2022.

Participants came from far and wide to take part, with some traveling from outer metro and regional areas to be with their peers in a familiar environment.

After three weekly sessions of AFL Auskick, the program concluded with deaf and hard of hearing children playing a round-robin carnival of AFL 9s competition, with several teams playing in an open-age category.