The Australian Football League has announced the appointment of Sydney Swans player Kieren Jack as an AFL Ambassador.

The talented Swans midfielder will help promote AFL to tens of thousands of children, teenagers, adults, parents and community groups throughout New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory.

“Today’s announcement is significant for the AFL in terms of our approach to growing the game in Sydney and across the state and territory,” David Matthews, General Manager National and International Development said at yesterday's launch.

“We have a talented player who has spent his junior years growing up in Sydney who has been exposed to sport at the elite level and is now embracing Australian football.

“Kieren is the perfect example of a young player who first experienced AFL at primary school and has since followed the AFL pathway in NSW. Kieren is now recognised as one of the game’s most dominant midfielders, winning the Sydney Swans best and fairest award in 2010."

Jack, who has played both AFL and rugby league, grew up in Cherrybrook, New South Wales. His first experience of Australian football was in the Paul Kelly Cup in 1998 while still in primary school. In 2000 he was identified by AFL talent scouts and taken by the Swans in the 2005 Rookie Draft from the Under-18 NSW/ACT Rams.

“I am excited about my new role with the AFL. I really enjoy getting out into the community and meeting kids and passing on my experiences,” Kieren Jack said.

“I have had the opportunity to begin to forge a career in a sport I love and being able to work in the community and talk about the benefits of getting involved in football is a project I am really looking forward to.”

Across his time as an AFL Ambassador, Jack will represent the AFL on a number of levels working with the NSW/ACT state body and the two Sydney-based clubs to promote the code.

He will visit schools, junior football clubs and will be involved in community, multicultural and QBE Sydney Swans Academy programs to help position AFL as a sporting option for people of all ages and skill level.

Support for Australian football is growing steadily in NSW/ACT with participation rates up 110% to 125,000 in the last five years.

On top of this, a record 18 NSW/ACT players were listed by AFL clubs in 2010 and this number could rise in the coming years courtesy of the newly established QBE Sydney Swans and GWS Giants Academies.