Jennifer Pittorino
Two Maribyrnong and Hobsons Bay football clubs have been given grants to continue their campaigns to eliminate road trauma in their communities.
The Laverton Magpies Football Club and West Footscray Football Club are two of the 251 clubs on the recipient list of the Transport Accident Commission(TAC) Club Rewards program.
The state government and TAC created this program, incentivising grassroots clubs across the state for showing a commitment to promoting road safety during the 2023 season.
Laverton Magpies president Stephanie Hartnup, said the club is planning to spend its $1800 on running junior programs in the off season, as well as getting ready for pre-season with the senior players.
“I am very grateful we can use this money for our community, we are a low socio economic and young community,” she said.
“We know the importance of driving safely in our communities, we encourage everyone involved in our club to get home safely to and from games, training and functions.”
The TAC program encourages clubs to engage with players, members and their communities on key road safety issues and promote safe behaviours, with the dangers of distracted driving a key focus of this year’s campaign.
AFL Victoria-affiliated clubs from across the state were able to apply for the program by showing how they supported road safety throughout the year, including taking part in the TAC’s Road Safety Round ‘Band Together’ campaign.
“We displayed how we as a club have been encouraging a safe environment when it comes to driving and drunk driving, and being safe on the roads,” said Stephanie.
“We also submitted our social media posts, our signage in our club rooms and around our bar.
“One of our players were in the TAC campaign advertisement which also demonstrated our focus on improving driving in our community.”
Successful clubs are able to use the money for a range of initiatives including education programs, club transport initiatives, new equipment and uniforms and facility upgrades and improvements.
So far this year, 236 people have died on Victoria’s roads with distracted driving being one of the major causes.
