The Baulkham Hills Hawks and Kellyville/Rouse Hill Magpies celebrated the festive season in fine style, putting on a Hills AFL End of Year Party in conjunction with the GIANTS at Charles McLaughlin Reserve on Wednesday evening.

Exciting GIANTS small forward Joey Delana, a former Magpie himself, was on hand to teach adoring kids the tricks of the trade. GIANTS teammate Leek Aleer also proved very popular, with the Kenyan born South Sudanese defender impressing everyone with his elite hand and foot skills as well as his jumping ability.

New GIANTS draftees Oskar Taylor, Riley Hamilton and Finn Davis enjoyed a kick-to-kick with a number of youngsters, many of whom had never played footy before.

It was a fun filled afternoon with lots of smiles, laughter and plenty of starry eyed kids (and parents).

Having been established in 1976, the Hawks boast 350 members across its junior football program, from Auskick (U4s) through to the U14s. The Kellyville/Rouse Hill Magpies were born out of Baulkham Hills and were established in 2002 and also have 420 kids from Auskick to U14s.

The Presidents of both clubs, Luke Van Staveren (Hawks) and Craig Abercrombie (Magpies), were on hand to celebrate, and were glowing in their praise of the relationship they have with the GIANTS.

“It’s great having the GIANTS support, given they are our local AFL club. They come out and do visits like this throughout the year which shows the GIANTS and the AFL are well and truly invested in local community footy,” said Luke, who is originally from Melbourne, but now lives in Baulkham Hills.

“The kids see these players on TV, and they get to come here and have a kick around with them, it helps build a connection. We are looking forward to this continuing growing forward.”

The GIANTS have worked hard to build a strong relationship with the Hills community. A number of Hills juniors are GIANTS fans and have been regulars at home games at ENGIE Stadium.

“A lot of these kids are GIANTS fans as well. When they get their Auskick packs it’s either GIANTS or Swans, and many choose the GIANTS,” Luke said. 

“We see a lot of our kids at training wear there GIANTS kits and in turn we also see a lot of our kids at GIANTS AFL games wearing their Baulko or Rouse Hill kits. It’s nice to see the connection.”

The two clubs obviously have a strong bond, so much so they formed an alliance called the Hills Eagles for the U15s and U17s boys and Hills Phoenix for youth girls. Both alliances feed into highly successful Sydney AFL Club, East Coast Eagles.

“It’s a very strong and deep connection between our clubs because Kellyville was born out of Baulkham Hills. A lot of people involved at Kellyville have been involved with Baulkham Hills in the past,” explained Craig.

“We have a great rivalry on the field, but we obviously work closely together to grow the game and give older kids the chance to keep playing footy.

“Events like today are a great way for our clubs to join forces and work closely with the GIANTS to build a strong connection between the GIANTS and our community.

“The kids get to know the GIANTS players on a first name basis, then they see them on TV. They instantly build that connection. The youngsters at our clubs even have friendships with the GIANTS players.”

A number of kids who came along for the first time on Wednesday, are now keen to get into footy, with the dream of one day playing for the GIANTS very much in their minds.

Laura, whose son Luka (aged 9) was enjoying a kick with Oskar Taylor, explained how the GIANTS visit to Luka’s school - Ironbark Ridge Public School in Rouse Hill - was the catalyst for him to turn up to Charles McLaughlin Reserve.

“Luka loves different sports and wants to try all of them, he wasn’t into Aussie Rules until the GIANTS visited Ironbark Ridge, and when they did their clinic he wanted to see what it was all about, which is also why we are here today,” Laura explained.

“He really enjoys kicking the ball around and wants to learn more about the game. We haven’t been to a GIANTS game before but we definitely will next season. I am looking forward to it already.”

The Hills has always been a powerful district in Aussie Rules footy, with the Pennant Hills Demons being a force in the Sydney AFL for a number of years. Now, along with the Baulkham Hills Hawks and the Kellyville/Rouse Hill Magpies, it is fair to say the Hills district is very much taking GIANT strides in growing Aussie Rules Footy in Western Sydney.