And tasked with leading these aspiring footballers was a group of the region’s most promising talents – the Bendigo Pioneers.
Five local Pioneers players including Echuca’s Jack Evans, Joe Guiney, Billy Barnes and Corbin Anderson, as well as Rochester’s Nathan Kay, were on hand to help lead a number of skills sessions.
Bendigo Pioneers assistant coach Matt Dunham said the club's involvement on Sunday started from its community engagement program, with players returning to help the associations or communities that first helped them on their own football journey.
“We thought what a wonderful way to get back into real grassroots footy and give back to the NAB Auskick level,” Dunham said.
“It's probably as important for our players as it is the kids.
“These kids may come down and watch them (Pioneers) on a weekend, so to have them back here and being a part of it is pretty exciting.
“You see the kids, and they know them by their name, like Captain Jack (Evans), so it’s pretty cool to see.
“And it’s been really good (today). Echuca do a wonderful job here and they’re really well represented at the Pioneers level.
“We are extremely grateful for the opportunity to be a part of Echuca's NAB Auskick program.”
With plenty of smiles on faces of players, parents and Pioneers, Kay said the day as a whole was a success.
“It was really good to see all the kids excited to play footy,” Kay said.
“Coming up through Rochy, I was thinking back about all the good times playing Auskick.
“We mainly worked on kicking and skills out there and teaching them the fundamentals before playing a game at the end.
“It’s (Auskick) a really good starting point - it helps out a lot of kids.”
