The Carlton Football Club is proud to launch the Peter Dean Father-Son Academy, which aims to connect, develop and support the sons of former Carlton players.
The Academy has been the vision of Carlton’s General Manager of List Management and Strategy Stephen Silvagni, who has been working to bring it to life since returning to Carlton.
“Carlton’s Father-Son Academy is about creating a sense of belonging,” Silvagni said.
“We want to give kids an experience, offer them a support network and strengthen their connection to the football club their fathers have done so much for.
“We also hope to harness and develop talent, which could one day see the sons of past players don the old dark navy blue themselves.
“Our new Academy is reinventing and reinvigorating a concept previously established at our club by Rod Ashman, who wanted to keep the spirit of Carlton alive through generations on the field.”
To qualify for the Academy, boys must be aged 10-18 years and their fathers must have played at least 100 games for Carlton.
The name of the academy, which will change every five years, aims to recognise and acknowledge the contributions made by past Carlton players – the inaugural Father-Son Academy has been named in honour of fan favourite Peter Dean, whose seven-year-old son Harry attended the launch with him.
The Academy will be coached by former Blue Ryan Houlihan who played 201 games for Carlton from 2000-2011. Houlihan has devised a structured program based on each child’s age and in accordance with the AFL guidelines. The program will involve a combination of football clinics and one-on-one interaction.
Jack Silvagni. (Photo: Carlton Football Club)
The father-son rule was established during the 1949 season. The first player officially cleared under the father-son rule was Harvey Dunn Jr. He was recruited to his father's old club Carlton in 1951, instead of being recruited to North Melbourne under zoning rules.
Carlton’s storied father-son history includes:
- Sergio and Stephen Silvagni
- Jim and Dylan Buckley
- Graeme and Lance Whitnall
- Vin and Jarrad Waite
- Laurie and Peter Kerr
- Harvey and Harvey Dunn Jr (first in VFL / AFL History)
Jake Bradley. (Photo: Carlton Football Club)
Today’s launch brought together Carlton players past and present, along with some of the academy players:
- Craig and Jake Bradley
- Adrian and Tom Gleeson
- Glenn, Oskar and Archi Manton
- Sergio, Stephen, Jack, Ben and Tom Silvagni
- Jim and Dylan Buckley
- Mil and Max Hanna
- Dean and Bailey Rice
- Lance and Dane Whitnall
- Liam and Will Hickmott (sons of Adrian)
- Peter and Harry Dean
- Bryce and three-week old Charlie Gibbs
- John Nicholls
- Spirit of Carlton committee members David Rhys-Jones, Geoff Southby and Dennis Munari
Oskar Manton. (Photo: Carlton Football Club)
The Peter Dean Father-Son Academy is proudly supported by nutritious food company 247, along with Carlton’s past players association the Spirit of Carlton.
