Pies give back to the Latrobe Valley community

A variety of Collingwood Community Camps are running throughout Australia this week, including a two-day action-packed visit to the Latrobe Valley.

As part of the club’s partnership with the Latrobe Valley Authority, twenty-five Collingwood players spent time in the region to visit various schools, community groups and hospitals throughout Sale and its surrounding towns.

A big area of focus of the camp is to promote participation in football, including Auskick programs. The Sale Football Netball Club played host to a super clinic on Monday afternoon, with 250 kids from local schools participating and learning new footy skills - all with the help of Collingwood’s elite players.

“It’s all good fun, the kids have got plenty of energy, and it’s great to be teaching kids some footy knowledge along the way,” explained Mason Cox.

“The fact that we’re all spread out across the country and giving back to the AFL community, it’s a good thing.

“It’s great for me to see a new area of the country, experience something different and give back to people in this community.”

Players also visited local schools to answer students’ questions about life as professional footballers, and promote the importance of participating in sport, and leading healthy lifestyles.

Visits to aged care facilities and hospitals took a different pace, and proved the love of Collingwood runs across generations. Bringing a smile to residents and patients in both Sale and Maffra, players were able to share a yarn and brighten some days along the way.

The camp was a precursor to Collingwood’s two upcoming matches in Morwell – the AFLW’s round four clash against the GWS Giants on Sunday 24 February, and the JLT Community Series match, which will see the AFL side take on Carlton on Monday 11 March.

Check out a selection of snaps from the trip below.