Two Geelong Cats players visited Belmont Lions Sporting Club for its junior event this week, where the club also unveiled its new Indigenous kit designs.
Sam Menegola and Toby Conway were on hand Wednesday night to meet Belmont Lions junior players, conduct skills training and feature onstage in a Q&A session with club members.
The new playing strip ‘Warrior Spirit’, designed by artist David Flagg, represents the connections between the club, the Wadawurrung land upon which its members play, the Aboriginal community warriors and the club members themselves.
The club put on live music, food and drinks for everyone that attended.
Club secretary and junior coordinator Brian Coughlan said the whole club was thrilled with how the night went.
“It was one of the best nights we’ve ever had with the Cats players, Sam Menegola and Toby Conway were fantastic,” Mr Coughlan said
“The kids were absolutely rapt the two Geelong Cats players came down, the parents were rapt, we had the stage set up, everyone thoroughly enjoyed it.
“In my opinion juniors are the most important part of the club. It’s like building a house, if you don’t get a strong base with juniors you’re not going to have a successful senior base in years to come.
“We’ve introduced free junior memberships this year to try to attract more juniors to the club and it’s really paying off. We’ve got over 160 kids through our under 9s, 10s, 12s in and Auskick program and also the Net Set Go, which is the little ones at Netball.”
Mr Coughlan said Mr Flagg had done a wonderful job designing the new uniforms.
“We’ve had a big partnership with the Wathaurong Aboriginal community for over 40 years, and it’s magnificent jumper that’s been designed by David Flagg,” he said.
