A budding sports administrator has landed a role with AFL PNG.
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Former Brock-Burrum and Albury footballer Ben Vile will spend a year In the East New Britain Province, an island north-east of the mainland.
“Essentially my role will be introducing AFL to schools and communities in the area,” he said.
“It will also involve getting a competition up and running, probably a schools competition, and also training and educating a local counterpart to upskill when I head off.”
The volunteer role will be the 22-year-old’s first in sport after completing a three-year course in sports development at Deakin University.
“My dream is to live and work overseas, and to do something that I’m passionate about, sport development,” he said.
Vile saw an advertisement on-line midway through last year.
“It’s about pioneering in that we want to gain a footprint in the community,” he said.
“The AFL wants to gain a bit of presence in time and provide another outlet for the community to enjoy sport.”
It’s about pioneering in that we want to gain a footprint in the community.
- Ben Vile
While the code does have a presence in PNG, Rugby League is the national pastime.
“It will be a very different environment, different food, climate, activities, and I only know a handful of people over there,” he said.
“It’s very tropical, but hopefully being in Darwin in 2013 will mean I don’t go in cold turkey with the climate.when I first get there.
“But the wet season will be very high humidity, about 90%, and 35 degrees.”
Vile has a strong background in the sport as he came through the Brock-Burrum juniors, before playing a handful of senior games with O&M powerhouse Albury.
He will leave for PNG on Sunday.