THE AFL VICTORIA Multicultural State Cup was held on Wednesday, 23 October at Windy Hill in Essendon.

The tournament is the conclusion to the Multicultural Primary Schools program, which encourages social inclusion by teaching primary school children to play AFL.

A variety of schools participated, representing the following clubs: Melbourne, Essendon, Western Bulldogs, Richmond, North Melbourne and Carlton.

More than 300 children participated on the day, in both the boys and girls divisions, with Southern Cross Primary School (Cranbourne) and Woorana Park Primary (Dandenong) representing the Melbourne Football Club.

The Grand Finals saw Our Lady’s Primary School (Essendon) take out the boys division and Mother of God (Western Bulldogs) claimed a win over Melbourne’s Woorana Park Primary School in the girls division.

The multicultural program teaches participants the basic skills of Australian Rules, while entrenching the themes of leadership, respect, fair play, teamwork and harmony.