Members of the Northern Beaches Blues Football Club who have received a $10,000 grant thanks to the Volkswagen Footy Assist program.

The Volkswagen Footy Assist program gives footy clubs at the heart of their local communities the chance to thrive and help grow the game of AFL and the winners for the 2022 program have been announced.

Footy clubs are the heart of many communities around Australia, and we need to make sure they survive to ensure the growth of AFL, nurture the development of future AFL and AFLW talent, and keep thousands of footy dreams alive.

The Volkswagen Footy Assist grant application process was open to any local AFL club that is a non-professional and not for profit organisation in Australia. The grants have been awarded to clubs that applied and are deemed to be most in need of assistance as determined by the Sydney Swans and Volkswagen. 

Congratulations to the following clubs who have been successful in this year’s Volkswagen Footy Assist program and we look forward to seeing what these grants do for these clubs.

2 x $10,000 winners:
•    Northern Beaches Blues AFL Club
•    Coleambally Football Netball Club
 
6 x $5,000 winners:
•    North Albury Football and Netball Club
•    Pittwater Tigers Junior AFL
•    Bega Valley Bombers
•    Hillston Swans Football & Netball Club
•    Reservoir Football Club
•    Moore Park Tigers Junior Australian Football Club

Coleambally Football Club player Alistair Burge, who completed the application for his club was 'absolutely rapt and grateful' after being told the news his club was one of the major winners of the program in 2022, securing one of two $10,000 grants.

Coleambally is a small farming town in the Riverina, seven hours from Sydney and has a population of just 1331 people and the football and netball club is a big part of the town.

"Christmas certainly has come early this year," Burge said.

"We are absolutely pumped to get some help in supporting our growing Football and Netball programs through the Volkswagen Footy Assist program. The grant will assist the club in providing some much needed training equipment for both footballers and netballers to ramp up their pre-season preparations post Christmas. Thank you to Volkswagen and the Sydney Swans for supporting our club and rural communities. 

Coleambally Football Netball Club will use the the Volkswagen Footy Assist grant to purchase much needed equipment.

Meanwhile the Bega Bombers Football Club were one of six recipients of a $5000 grant and Alex Nicol from the club noted his gratitude and the importance of the grant for the club in south-east NSW.

"It’s great news and will be very important to the club," Nicol said.

"Currently we have no facilities at all. We work from a donated caravan that was completely rebuilt by club members and which now serves as store room and canteen. Set up for a home game starts at 6am and takes a good hour, so this will assist in developing facilities at the club."

The Bega Valley Bombers have secured a $5000 grant as part of the Volkswagen Footy Assist program.

Volkswagen and the Sydney Swans have been supporting communities across Australia since 2015 via a dedicated grassroots grants program. Over this period over $190,000 in grants have been awarded to more than 63 local AFL clubs nationally. These funds have helped provide new footballs, uniforms, training equipment and facility improvements to community clubs in need.

The eligibility of each application was also reviewed against the Terms and Conditions.