By Chris McAsey
Indonesia is utilising an AFL Asia Development Grant to build a pathway for the next generation of Garudas with a revival of the successful IndoKick program. The program will target 7-12 year old boys and girls in selected schools in Jakarta as the Garudas aim to better their strong performances at the inaugural Asia Cup.
Jakarta Bintangs President Ben Giles said the club’s focus in recent years has been to develop 15-18 year olds to build club playing numbers following the pandemic.
‘Those players are now representing the Bintangs and Garudas at senior level, so it’s time to introduce footy to the next cohort of 7-12 year olds through IndoKick,’ he said.
‘The mid to long term objective will be for some of this new cohort to become the next group of Indonesian stars and Australian football ambassadors.’
The program has already proved its value as a pathway for Indonesian talent, with six former IndoKick players aged 19-20 representing the Garudas at the Asia Cup last December.
Indonesia’s men’s and women’s teams put in outstanding performances across the Asia Cup in Ho Chi Minh City. Both teams finished third in their competition standings and were unlucky not to progress through to the Grand Final play-offs.
Ben said the broader aim of reviving IndoKick is to continue to build a community around footy in Indonesia.
‘Thankfully, previous AFL Asia Grants enabled the club to train a large pool of talented youngsters to choose from to represent Indonesia at the Asia Cup,’ he said.
‘But we don’t see football development now as a separate function from the senior playing group.’
‘We need to build a community and pipeline of players from youth to adulthood.’
The IndoKick initiative is being rolled out at seven primary schools in the Halim area of East Jakarta, holding 15 sessions on Saturdays with large groups of boys and girls.
Ben said that some IndoKick alumni from the schools who now play for the Bintangs and Garudas helped out with the training sessions.
‘It gives the kids something to aspire to,’ Ben said. ‘We also plan to select a small group of players that show the most interest in the game and ability to join a special program with the Bintangs.’
AFL Asia Development funding has also enabled Indonesia to develop talent from far and wide across the archipelago.
’An AFL Asia Development Grant enabled us to travel to Balikpapan to reinvigorate the Borneo Bears in 2022 after Covid and now the club is back up and running,’ Ben said.
The Bears have since had players represent Indonesia at the Asian Championships and Asia Cup, including Gilang Saputo, who was selected in the men’s All-Asian team.
Gilang Saputro (front row, middle) from the Borneo Bears and Michael Latuperrissa (back row, 4th from left) were selected in the All Asian team for their performances at the Asia Cup.
