Auskick is a national program in Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

 to develop and promote participation in Australian rules football

Australian rules football

Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...

 by children. It has proven to be popular with both boys and girls.

The program was devised in 1998 and began in Victoria

Victoria (Australia)

Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....

 — the traditional home of the sport — under the name Vickick. It was supported by the Australian Football League

Australian Football League

The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...

, the national professional competition for the sport, which began to roll it out nationally.

Under current corporate sponsorship rights (as of 2005) the program is officially named NAB AFL Auskick and is sponsored by the National Australia Bank

National Australia Bank

National Australia Bank is one of the four largest financial institutions in Australia in terms of market capitalisation and customers. NAB is ranked 17th largest bank in the world measured by market capitalisation...

, while previous sponsors include Simpson, a whitegoods company and, even earlier, fast food giant McDonald's

McDonald's

McDonald's Corporation is the world's largest chain of hamburger fast food restaurants, serving around 64 million customers daily in 119 countries. Headquartered in the United States, the company began in 1940 as a barbecue restaurant operated by the eponymous Richard and Maurice McDonald; in 1948...

.

Auskick is a national football coaching network, with clinics held weekly (usually on Saturday mornings) run by volunteers. The program attracts over 100,000 primary school aged participants annually and, as such, is the largest grassroots sporting association of its kind in Australia. Auskick's effort to involve children in AFL could be a determinant in the fact that 65% of high school students consider it in their top 3 favorite sports. The AFL is a major supporter of Auskick and star players occasionally assist in training events. The AFL also invites various branches of the Auskick network to play short games during the half-time breaks of premiership season games at all grounds, with numerous matches played on modified fields simultaneously.

The AFL has introduced the Auskick program into schools and communities around the country to increase the AFL's profile in areas that traditionally support other football codes

Football in Australia

Football in Australia can refer to several different variations of football as there are regional variations of the use of the word "Football" in Australia....

 such as New South Wales

Australian rules football in New South Wales

Australian rules football in New South Wales has been played since the 1870s, however it has a troubled history in the state, traditionally lags in popularity as a winter sport behind the rugby football codes....

 and Queensland

Australian rules football in Queensland

Australian rules football in Queensland has a history which dates back to the 1860s. By the 1880s it was the most prominent football code in the state, but was overtaken by rugby league by 1908...

.

In 2007 the program's slogan was "Where Champions Begin", with Jo Silvagni (wife of former AFL player Stephen Silvagni

Stephen Silvagni

Stephen Silvagni is a former Australian rules footballer for the Carlton Football Club.During his long VFL/AFL career, from his debut in 1985, until his retirement in 2001, he gained the reputation as one of the greatest ever full-backs to play the game and was named as full-back in the AFL Team...

) and Robert DiPierdomenico

Robert DiPierdomenico

Robert "Dipper" DiPierdomenico is a former Australian rules footballer in the VFL/AFL of Italian descent and a member of the VFL/AFL Italian Team of the Century...

, the 1986 co-Brownlow Medal

Brownlow Medal

The Chas Brownlow Trophy, better known as the Brownlow Medal , is awarded to the "fairest and best" player in the Australian Football League during the regular season as determined by votes cast by the officiating field umpires after each game...

list as the main ambassadors. They also used the kick-to-kick

Kick-to-kick

Kick-to-kick is a pastime and well-known tradition of Australian rules football fans, and a recognised Australian term for kick and catch type games...

 tradition as part of their promotional television campaign, which shows kids from around the country kicking the football to each other to the tune of Gimme Dat Ding

Gimme Dat Ding (song)

"Gimme Dat Ding" is a 1970 popular song sung by "one-hit wonder" The Pipkins, written by Albert Hammond and Mike Hazlewood. Released as a single, it is the title track of an album by The Pipkins on EMI Columbia, the song also appeared on a compilation of the same name, which The Pipkins shared with...

.

Parents' role in Auskick

Without the help of parent volunteers, Auskick will not be able to be the success that it is today. Parents are involved in across the board in activities such as at skills sessions, as coaches and supervisors, administrators, helpers, coordinators and even first aid officers.

Throughout the year, there are parent orientation courses as well as coaching courses.