Aussie Rules legend supports coaching clinic

One of the AFL’s biggest names, Sam Mitchell, supported the Global Coaching programme we currently have running in Australia.

Mitchell, a four-time AFL Player of the Year and huge Spurs fan, met young people taking part in a session with our coaches at Scotch College in Perth on Australia Day having recently joined the city’s West Coast Eagles club after 14 years with Hawthorn.

The programme is also running at the University of New South Wales and ANZ Stadium, Sydney, as a direct legacy of our recent First Team tours Down Under - over 3,000 young people benefitted from our coaching programmes during last summer’s visit to Melbourne.

Coaches use authentic methods practiced within an Academy that has produced the likes of Harry Kane, Danny Rose and Harry Winks as part of our continued efforts to help develop the game at grassroots level across the world.

Mitchell, 34, is hoping to move into coaching when his playing career is over and learned tips from Steve Embleton and Josh Kelly from our Global Coaching team.

The Melbourne-born midfielder said: “Some of the drills they do are different to what I have seen before and I enjoyed watching the kids learning from Steve and Josh. I was picking things up along the way that I can take with me back to the world of AFL.”

A total of 12 Soccer Schools will be delivered by the Club across Australia in 2017 in partnership with Esquire Collective, a project management and professional services company working across sport, entertainment and lifestyle.

It builds upon a huge increase in the popularity of football in Australia – recently announced as the country’s largest club-based participation sport following research carried out by the Australian Sports Commission, overtaking traditional favourites such as Cricket, Rugby League and Aussie Rules.