Footy fever hit Whitten Oval last Thursday with over 150 grade three and four students participating in the 2015 Bulldogs Multicultural Schools Cup.

Students from Mackellar, St Paul’s, Ardeer, Mother of God, St Albans and Sunshine Harvester Primary Schools came together for the competition.

Students who participate in the Western Bulldogs Multicultural Schools Program were given the opportunity to put their skills that in to practice, with each school playing five games of football across the day, umpired by Sports Education Development Australia (SEDA) students from the Sunshine Group.

Mother of God finished first in both the boys and girls divisions and Mackellar came runner up in both, Mother of God now progresses to play in AFL Victoria’s State Cup later in the year.

The Multicultural Schools Program program is a six-week program that is conducted with students from grades three and four and consists of skills clinics as well as learning about key themes of respect, leadership, teamwork, fair play and harmony.

The program is aimed at assisting migrant and refugee communities to access Australian football whether as a player, fan, coach, administrator or umpire.