Towards Zero Round will be held again in 2020, after AFL Victoria and the Transport Accident Commission (TAC) announced the expansion of the Towards Zero Club Grants program.
Towards Zero Round was introduced in 2019, with the initiative seeing a statewide fixtured round held across all grassroots and community football and netball clubs from August 2-4.
The initiative enabled the TAC to share the message of road safety with more than 400,000 Victorians who are involved in local sporting clubs across the state.
During Towards Zero Round, the captain of every NFNL senior men’s and women’s football team wore the number 0 on their back instead of their usual jumper number. Several netball teams also wore TAC Towards Zero socks.
Continue below to read a statement from AFL Victoria following the announcement of the expansion of the Towards Zero Club Grants program in 2020:
“AFL Victoria and the Transport Accident Commission (TAC) are thrilled to announce the expansion of the Towards Zero Club Grants program in 2020, which will see $1.3 million invested directly into community football clubs right around the state.
For the first time, all clubs in AFL Victoria country regions and metropolitan Melbourne will be eligible to receive up to $10,000 in funding via the program, which was successfully piloted in AFL Barwon, AFL Goldfields and Metropolitan regions in 2019.
In 2020, all regions will receive a pool of $100,000, from which funding will be allocated to clubs who engage with at least two of four relevant criteria around promotion of the Towards Zero vision, learner driver safety, alcohol & safe transport options, and participation in July’s Towards Zero round.
The Towards Zero Club Grants Program generated significant engagement amongst community clubs in 2019, investing over $400,000 into 104 successful clubs around the state for spending on projects including women’s football implementation and development, community education and mental health training.
AFL Victoria Head of Community Investment & Stakeholder Relations Rick Bell lauded the program and the significant show of support that will see all 1,200 clubs in Victoria eligible for funding.
“We are tremendously excited to be able to work closely with the TAC to further engage with all our communities and build on the successes from 2019.
“It is obviously a terrific opportunity to provide a boost for the local clubs who are at the heart of our game and their communities, but we also hope that by extending the program state-wide, we are in a position to make a meaningful impact in bringing incidents of road trauma towards zero – particularly in rural and regional Victoria,” Mr. Bell said.
Next year will mark the 29th year of partnership between AFL Victoria and the TAC, and the second year of the Towards Zero Community Football Partnership, which targets all Victorian’s with the Towards Zero message by encouraging active participation in the journey towards zero deaths and serious injuries on the roads.
Clubs will be able to apply for grants via the AFL Victoria website between April 1 – July 31, with funding awarded in September 2020.”
What is Towards Zero?
Towards Zero is Victoria’s plan to ensure no one is seriously injured on our roads. It acknowledges that we all face risks on our roads, but that our choice to use the road shouldn’t cost us our lives. That’s why we need to ensure we have a safe transport system in place. Together we can build a system that protects us from our own mistakes and those of others.
Who’s behind Towards Zero?
Towards Zero is a partnership between the Transport Accident Commission, VicRoads, Victoria Police, Department of Justice and Regulation and Department of Health and Human Services. Working together with the community, it is our belief that zero deaths and serious injuries on our roads is possible.
