Bulldogs unite with Ballarat kids for two–day community camp

WESTERN Bulldogs AFL and AFLW players were in Ballarat last week, interacting with local fans including school children.

The two-day annual community camp began on Tuesday 2 December with a visit to Phoenix P-12 Community College and a super clinic at Mars Stadium with more than 200 children taking part.

On Wednesday 3 December, a youth leadership session was held at Ballarat Library which aimed to inspire young people through direct engagement with players and Western Bulldogs Community Foundation staff.

The Western Bulldogs Community Foundation has an office within Ballarat Foundation’s Giving Hub at Hugh Williamson House and aims to deliver sports-centric health and wellbeing programs with a focus on young people, diversity, inclusion, and gender equity.

Players taking part in the camp on Wednesday also met with students at Macarthur Street Primary School before an open training session took to the grass at Mars Stadium.

“It’s awesome to come back to Ballarat and get around the kids,” Western Bulldogs AFL player Joel Freijah said.

“They get a lot of enjoyment out of it and so do we.”

Freijah, originally from Horsham, boarded in Ballarat from years 10 to 12.

“I’m a country boy,” he said. “I can share with the kids here what it’s like being a regional kid and my pathway to the AFL.”

In an agreement with the City of Ballarat and the State Government, the Western Bulldogs were to play two regular season matches at Mars Stadium between 2025 and 2027.

The team’s two home games scheduled for 2026 have been relocated due to the venue’s redevelopment.

Three pre-season games will be played at the stadium in 2026, and the premiership season games planned for 2027 remain unaffected.