TWO club favourite sons, Paddy and Thomson Dow, have returned to Swan Hill to assist in the development of its Swancademy program.
With both Carlton and Richmond having a bye this weekend, the brothers were able to travel back home to take part in this week’s session.
The duo ran a quick training session with the Swancademy members, before speaking about their journeys to the AFL and answering questions.
Following the session, Paddy said he and his brother always enjoyed the chance to get back to the club.
“It’s always great to get a chance to come back to where we played our junior footy,” he said.
“Whenever we come up, which is usually in the off-season or when there’s a bye, it’s always great to pop in and see everyone.
“We enjoy seeing how the ones are playing and how the juniors are doing.”
Thomson said it was rewarding to give back to the youth at the club.
“This is where our journey started, so it’s really nice to get back here,” he said.
“We are both more than happy to have any opportunity to give back to the community.”
The Swancademy program aims to provide additional pathways for children who want to further their football journey.
Paddy said the opportunity to assist young footballers in these pathway programs was a rewarding opportunity.
“If this can influence these kids in any way then it’s amazing,” he said.
“It can be tough being in a regional area and not really seeing those pathways to the top levels, so hopefully this can show them it is possible.
“We didn’t have something like this when we were coming through, so it’s great to see that the younger kids will have a program like this that will provide an extra pathway for young players to push themselves in football.
“I’m sure a lot of these young fellas would love to get drafted, so it’s really good to get a chance to talk to them about our experience.”
Swancademy’s Hugh Foott said the opportunity to bring the brothers in to speak to the kids was invaluable.
“We are really lucky to have two kids that had played juniors for us both playing on AFL lists,” he said.
“For them to put their hand up and come back to be a part of it during the small break they have is really big for us.
“We wanted to give our kids something to aspire to, and to give them opportunities they might not be able to get locally in Swan Hill.
“We never want people to be limited by their ability or their financial status, so we provide the program free of charge to all children that want to be involved for all ages from under-12s to under-17s.
“It’s a very varied program, we want to keep the children interested in what they’re learning. They’ve learnt about things like nutrition, strength and conditioning as well as a footy skills assessment.
“We’ve had a really good take up for it and we think the kids are getting a lot out of it.”
