THE next crop of potential AFL stars have taken the next steps in their football journeys, with the Bendigo Pioneers boys’ and girls’ squads taking part in a joint training session in Swan Hill on Sunday.
More than 200 invitees took part in the session from across the club’s catchment area, with players from the under-16 and under-18 age groups pressing their cases to make the final squad for next year’s Talent League season.
Along with the players, the Pioneers also brought their entire coaching roster.
Boys’ senior coach Danny O’Bree outlined the importance of the day to the Pioneers program.
“We’ve been training for a week, but the purpose of today was really about connecting with everyone and making sure the kids get back into and used to good training habits,” O’Bree told The Guardian on Sunday.
“We want the kids to get used to the higher standards and the high-intensity training sessions quickly. because they just have to become elite with their training habits and today’s game expects exactly that.
“The quicker we can get back into those habits, the more beneficial it will be for them and us in the long run.”
With Swan Hill seen as a central point within the Pioneers’ catchment, drawing in players travelling from Mildura, Bendigo and Echuca, the other benefit of Sunday’s session was to help reduce the amount of travel for those who live outside of Bendigo.
“We went up to Mildura last week and we love our super Sundays in Swan Hill and we’ve already planned our next one,” O’Bree said.
“The more times we can get up to our regions and prevent our kids from travelling too much for the year is always a positive.
“We know many of our players have to do a significant amount of travelling throughout the year, so if we can help out at times then we do it.
“Today has been good for the Swan Hill crew that they don’t have to travel so far this time because they certainly do their fair share throughout the year.
“It’s important to get around to each part of our region so everyone gets an idea of the sacrifices these kids have to make in regards to time and the effort they have to put in to get around our very vast region.”
Sunday capped off a very busy week for O’Bree and the Pioneers, who had four players drafted to AFL clubs at last week’s AFL national and pre-season drafts.
Joining AFL lists were Leitchville-Gunbower utility James Barrat to St Kilda at pick 32, Tobie Travaglia to St Kilda at pick 8, Jobe Shannahan to West Coast at pick 30 and Archer Day-Wicks to Essendon in the rookie draft.
The quartet join a long list of AFL players to have come from the Pioneers program in recent seasons, including former No.1 selection Harley Reid.
O’Bree heaped praise on the club’s program to develop not only the footballer, but the person first and foremost.
“It’s a bit of an old saying, but it takes a village to raise a child and every kid needs that village around them,” O’Bree said.
“For me, I just love our village, I think it’s really special, whether it’s our high-performance team, the medical or the admin team, our coaches, our wellbeing team, the way everyone comes together and it’s all about the player is really very special.
“It makes us incredibly proud as a program to watch these kids flourish under the guidance of our staff, and it’s the best thing for us to sit back and watch them develop throughout the years we have them with us.
“The ultimate is seeing the kids get the opportunity to play at the top level and go and showcase their talents.
“We have a lot of talent in our region and if we can keep getting more people on the same page, we’re going to get a lot more drafted.”
