City of Casey

In June 2009, the City of Casey, Melbourne Football Club and the Casey Demons embarked on a 30-year partnership. Since then, the partnership has brought to life many exciting, meaningful and successful programs, benefiting and celebrating the local Casey Community. 

The club and Casey Council continue to work closely together to evaluate, develop and increase positive, inclusive and vibrant engagement opportunities across the City of Casey. The most valuable aspect of this very special engagement piece, is to create opportunities to bring people together from all backgrounds, promote active lifestyles, and welcome new people to our great game and club. 

Northern Territory Community

Melbourne Football Club Community team and IEHU began working together in 2009/2010 with the shared goal of providing health promotion messages in support of the elimination of trachoma to Aboriginal communities in Central Australia and the Northern Territory. Trachoma is the leading cause of infectious blindness in 42 of the world's poorest countries. Australia is the only developed country in the world to still have active trachoma in remote Indigenous communities. For over a decade, annual trips with AFL players, men and women, to Central Australian remote communities have helped carry the message of ‘Clean Faces, Strong Eyes’ with Milpa the trachoma goanna.

Player Appearances

Auskick

We are committed to providing Melbourne supporters within the Auskick program exclusive opportunities, such as half-time experiences & clinics. 

Additionally, we provide Auskick centres within our engagement areas the opportunity to have visits from our players. Auskickers are a key audience when considering growth of our junior supporter base. 

Junior Club - SEJ and Heartland

The club is proud to have formal partnership agreements in place with South East Juniors, one of the major junior footy leagues in our engagement areas. The South East Juniors are right in the middle of both our Next Generation Academy (NGA) and Fan Development Zone. 

We also strive to ensure we engage with the grassroots pathways and encourage children of all ages to continue to participate in football. By visiting our affiliated junior clubs – both in Casey and our Heartland region – we aim to inspire the next generation and provide them with an opportunity to meet, take photos with and ask questions of players who have successfully made the transition from the grassroots to the elite.  

Schools

We know the power and support that football clubs have, so we make it a priority to be able to send both our AFL and AFLW teams out to schools within our regions – City of Casey, and select schools within the City of Glen Eira, Stonnington and Boroondara. This allows us to connect with as many people as possible and hopefully encourage participation and support of football.

Junior Clinics

We aim to facilitate a Junior Member Clinic throughout the year, to say thank you to our youngest members of the Demon faithful. This experience invites our junior members down to partake in plenty of football activities and fun, with help from our AFL and AFLW players. This up close and personal interaction helps build the connection between our players and our young supporters, and hopefully provides them with a great experience.  

South East Juniors

Overview

Beginning in 2010, the partnership between the Dees and SEJ has continued to grow year on year, as has the league itself.  

SEJ now comprises 180 boys’ teams and 40 girls’ teams, with 17 clubs across the league, and is one of the largest junior football leagues in the Demons’ engagement area. With age ranges from Under 8’s to Under 19’s, we are glad to see a great structured pathway for the participants in the area. 

The Melbourne Football Club and Casey Demons thank AFL South East for its continued support and leadership in helping to grow junior football across the region

Talent Programs

Through the SEJ, we are able to run programs that look to nurture and enhance the talent within the region. Through programs such as our Next Generation Academy, people of a multicultural background are given an opportunity to refine their skills and have access to the facilities at Casey Fields.

Through this partnership, we are also Program Partners for SEJ’s Interleague squads. This representative pathway provides players with potential the ability to play against a higher standard of opposition.

Mornington Peninsula Junior Football League (MPJFL)

Next Generation Academy (NGA)

MPJFL and the Melbourne Football Club share a talent pathways alignment through the NGA Zone. 

The aim of the Melbourne Academy is to encourage, develop and enhance participation outcomes for talented players, with an additional focus on creating more opportunities for multicultural and Indigenous participants. All programs include on-field skill development and educational components to prepare participants to be the best players they can be and equally, the best people they can be. 

SEDA

Student Development

We have a partnership with the SEDA program based out in Dandenong. We have these students assist us on Match Days by having them help with our activations on each home game. These students also assist with Melbourne events, experience and engagement opportunities.