Footballers pull on the ‘0’ jumper to highlight the TAC’s Towards Zero campaign
Zero isn’t always a welcome number in sport. But thousands of grassroots footballers proudly wore the number on their backs to support a TAC road safety campaign. Here’s just a few.
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Zero is generally a number to be avoided in sport but, on Saturday, footballers around the state proudly embraced the number for a worthy cause.
More than 1000 grassroots footballers across the state donned the number 0 on their
backs, instead of their usual jumper numbers, as part of the TAC’s Towards Zero Round.
The round aimed to spread a road safety message to the 400,000 Victorians involved in local sporting club across the state by highlighting the importance of reaching zero deaths on the state’s roads and why it is something all Victorians should be working towards.
It was the first time in the TAC’s 28-year partnership with AFL Victoria that it had co-ordinatined a statewide, fixtured round for all grassroots and community football.
“Grassroots football and netball clubs are the lifeblood of their communities and I’m sure you would be hard pressed to find someone involved who hasn’t been affected by road trauma,” the TAC’s acting chief executive Bruce Crossett said in the lead-up to the weekend. “We believe that zero is the only acceptable number of deaths on our roads, but we need everyone to play their part.
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“This round is putting road safety at the fore and we’re asking everyone to prioritise safety to make sure every journey is a safe one.
“The thousands of football and netball players right across the state cover hundreds of kilometres travelling to games throughout the season.
“Through our partnership with AFL Victoria, and the launch of the Towards Zero Round, we’re able to have a direct conversation with those Victorians about the role they play in making our roads safer and working towards zero deaths and serious injuries on our roads”.
As of midnight on Sunday, 175 Victorians have already lost their lives on the state’s roads this year, up from 119 at the same time as last year.
As part of the initiative, the TAC has invested $300,000 in a Community Grants Program from which local clubs will have the opportunity to apply for grants of up to $10,000.
To see if your club is eligible to apply for the Community Grants Program, visit aflvic.com.au
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