Essendon and RMIT Strengthen Partnership Through ‘Bomber Kids’ Early Learning Initiative

The Essendon Football Club has further integrated its commercial partnership with RMIT University by delivering its flagship early learning program, Bomber Kids, at the RMIT City Campus Children’s Centre.

Positioned between the MCG and Marvel Stadium, the activation highlights the evolving nature of sports-education partnerships, moving beyond traditional branding into tangible community and vocational outcomes.

The Bomber Kids program is designed as a play-based curriculum that utilizes Australian Rules Football to develop fundamental movement skills, social connectivity, and confidence in children aged three and four. By blending physical activity with storytelling, the sessions aim to ignite curiosity and establish foundational learning habits as children prepare for the transition to primary school.

Vocational Integration: The Essendon Education Academy

A key commercial and educational pillar of the event was the involvement of Essendon Education Academy (EEA)students. Delivering the program alongside Essendon’s community team, students Amelia Sacco and Maddison Cotten utilised the session to complete required industry placement hours.

The EEA, a joint venture between the club and RMIT, offers a Dual Diploma of Business and Diploma of Leadership and Management. This “hands-on” model allows students to apply theoretical coursework to real-world community engagement, creating a direct talent pipeline for the sports management sector.

Strategic Brand Alignment

Highlighting the multi-layered nature of the RMIT alliance, Essendon community lead, Brendan Hitchens, said: “RMIT is a commercial partner across the Club’s AFLW and Victorian Wheelchair Football League programs, but to see that partnership filter down to a grassroots level… is incredibly powerful.”

The presence of AFLW superstar and Bomber Kids ambassador Maddy Prespakis served to elevate the program’s aspirational impact. Prespakis shared her own journey from a four-year-old Auskick participant to an elite professional, reinforcing the “one day, that could be me” narrative that is central to the club’s fan-recruitment strategy.

Commercial Implications

For Essendon, the Bomber Kids initiative at RMIT represents a sophisticated approach to partner ROI. By embedding the program within the partner’s own infrastructure (the City Campus), the club is:

• Deepening Partner Ties: Providing exclusive value to RMIT’s staff and students through early learning services.
• Building Future Fanbases: Engaging the next generation of supporters in the highly competitive Melbourne CBD corridor.
• Demonstrating ESG Values: Delivering measurable social impact through education and inclusive play-based sport.

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