Ballarat chosen to trial the Miniroos program

First steps into football for Ballarat pre-school kids.

Some of the youngest Ballarat residents received their first taste of the world game on Monday 3 September, with the Miniroos program kicking off. 

The program is aimed at engaging 2 - 4 year old children, both boys and girls, and their parents in physical activity, and is a result of months of collaboration between Football Federation Victoria (FFV) and Playgroup Victoria.

The 30 minute program commenced in five playgroups across Ballarat, where it will be put to the test and trialled over a six week period. 

The playgroups participating in the program are based in Wendouree, Sebastopol, Redan and Delacombe. 

As part of the program, FFV has provided free Grassroots Certificate training to 12 Australian Catholic University (Aquinas) Bachelor of Early Childhood and Primary Education students to deliver the sessions. 

“This is a wonderful opportunity to engage the youngest segment of our community in the world game, physical activity in general, and more importantly provide another form of positive interaction between parents and their children,” said FFV’s General Manager of Game Development Salv Carmusciano.

Playgroup Victoria CEO Viv Cunningham-Smith agreed that getting kids involved in physical activity early on can lay the foundations for a healthy lifestyle as they grow up.

“We all understand that early life experiences in play will lead to children remaining active in later years," she said.

 “We are really pleased to be partnering with FFV, Australian Catholic University (Aquinas) and the Connecting Schools and Communities Ballarat playgroups to provide an active play program where children can run around, explore new ideas, get outdoors and have fun." 

The program will be available free of charge at the Connecting Schools and Communities playgroups, however families are encouraged to make a gold coin donation. 

Places are still available, and if you would like your child to participate please contact Amy Marnica on 0457 797 315.