The league will now be known as Shepparton Toyota District Junior Football Competition, after a three year sponsorship arrangement was signed last Friday with Shepparton Toyota dealer principal Vaughan Bradshaw.
League president Mark Lambourn hailed the signing as the "most significant" chapter in the long history of the junior competition.
“Along with all our other long-term and loyal sponsors, whom we can't do without, having Shepparton Toyota as our naming rights sponsor is significant. Not just for the financial support but for what it does to create pathways for kids, their parents and inclusion into our great community,” Lambourn said.
With the brand already connected to football and community programs, the agreement was signed just weeks after Bradshaw took over the local Toyota dealership.
“Toyota is heavily involved in the community with programs like the `Good for Footy’ and ‘Toyota Community Foundation’ already well established,” Bradshaw said.
With history as a third-generation car dealership family, he said it was in his DNA to support local people and junior sport is a great place to start.
“My kids aren't yet old enough (to play football) but I want them to grow up in a world of opportunity and pathways. So much is written and proven around the benefits sport provides and we need to throw all we can behind that in regional areas,” he said.
Lambourn also pointed to the rise of junior girls football and introductory programs such as Auskick.
Making reference to the important role junior competitions play in the bigger picture, Lambourn said: "It all starts at a junior level. Sport, especially in the bush, is a major connector of our communities but the earlier it starts, with kids playing and their parents coaching, supporting and helping out. Being active in local sport is the fabric on which a healthy community is built.”
“We're so fortunate to have Vaughan and Shepparton Toyota come on board to give us more support to do that.”
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