(L-R) Victoria's Hayden Auber (Wheelchair), Lachlan Essing (Inclusion) and Teisha Shadwell (Wheelchair) will welcome their fellow competitors from around the country to Victoria this year as the state hosts the 2025 Toyota AFL Open. Picture: AFL Photos
Team Victoria is excited to announce its coaches for this year's Toyota AFL Open, which will take place at La Trobe University Sports Precinct in Bundoora, from Monday 27 – Thursday 30 October.
The flagship national event for footballers with an intellectual impairment and wheelchair players will see each state and territory represented. This year Victoria will bring one team in the Wheelchair division and one team in the Inclusion division.
There will also be an exhibition match for AFL Blind that will include players from the Victorian Blind Football League.
For Victoria's Inclusion team, Anthony Scolyer and Rob Klemm will join forces and bring their combined expertise together as co-coaches. There will also be a past national player joining the coaching team with Shaun Martin named as a Development Coach, giving him the opportunity to support the broader coaching team and develop his coaching skills.
For Victoria's Wheelchair team, Andrew Paddle has been named as head coach, as he hopes to continue his past few years' success with Victoria Metro. As a new inclusion, Andrew Harrison will take up the position of Assistant Coach and will bring with him his professionalism and experience from being involved at the highest level of Wheelchair Rugby at the Paralympics.
If you are interested in trying out for either Victorian state team, please use the Expression of Interest links below as AFL Victoria begin to execute their training programs.
This year marks the second instalment of the Toyota AFL Open after the inaugural event was hosted in Queensland last year, with Tasmania taking home the Inclusion title and Vic Metro claiming the silverware for the Wheelchair division.
Previously held across two events known as the Toyota AFL National Inclusion Carnival and the Toyota Wheelchair AFL National Championships, the Toyota AFL Open was designed to elevate and strengthen the competitions by combining both into one major tournament.
For more information on the 2025 Toyota AFL Open, CLICK HERE.