The Family Day will be bigger than, and much different, to the traditional Family Days held at the Club in the past.It will also give supporters more opportunities to get up close to the Essendon players.
Essendon has made a conscious effort in the past two years to ensure it plays a more significant and effective role in the community and this change is just another step towards the club achieving that objective, according to Essendon chief executive Peter Jackson.
""We believe the season launch needs to be far more inclusive – it should appeal to the entire Essendon community, not simply be an exclusive event for a small cross-section of our supporter base. Those events have their place but we don’t believe it is the right way to go with a season launch,"" Jackson said.
""The Essendon Football Club is a community sporting club as well as an elite AFL club. We have a very important role to play in strengthening our community by connecting with it and engaging it – this change to the season launch is a small but important decision.""
Participation in sport, and sporting clubs, is the central theme of Essendon Football Club’s community involvement. As a role model organisation, the club believes it has the capacity to encourage young people to continue with, or become involved with, sport.
""Research we have available shows a clear correlation between young people engaging in sport and their ability to better deal with adolescent challenges such as alcohol, drugs, obesity and even suicide. Conversely, that research shows that young people who suffer the effects of these challenges very often have not been regularly involved in organised sport,"" Jackson said.
""This club and its players and staff already do a lot of great work for the Community. We highlighted some of this work in the booklet ""Essendon, Your Team, Our Community"" that was inserted in this year’s Yearbook. Our plan is to upgrade and enhance the community programs we undertake in 2006 and future years, through our own endeavours and the support of the AFL, and the Bill Hutchison Foundation.
""It is with this background that we have decided to launch the 2006 Season with a Community Family Day. We will include the 10 Essendon Amateur sporting clubs that are now affiliated with the Essendon Football Club, to get a much broader appeal and reach into the community.
""The players will be presented to members and supporters and new players presented with their jumpers. We will look forward to the involvement of our supporters and local community in the day.""
