Socceroos star Tim Cahilll to oversee rollout of football acadamies for Foxtel All-Stars grassroots campaign Socceroo star Tim Cahill is passionate about fostering grassroots football. IT promises to be Australian football's version of Willy Wonka's golden ticket, and Tim Cahill can't wait to step off the World Cup stage and start kicking a ball around with the children whose love of football makes theirs a winning entry. Fresh from playing a key role in a 2-2 draw with Columbus Crew that keeps New York Red Bulls at the top of the table, Cahill heads for Japan today with World Cup qualification front and centre. But once that assignment is over Cahill will oversee the first of a national program of academies launched as part of the Foxtel All-Stars grassroots campaign, the first in Sydney but followed by nine others around the country. One thousand children will take part, for free, but the real of point of difference is that those who are successful won't be chosen on pure ability. Five hundred children aged six to 11 - each will be allowed to bring a friend - will earn their place by detailing their passion for the game, and the point is to drive home the message that playing football can improve the wellbeing of just about any child who takes it up. "When you get kids at six years old there's so much you can teach them, so many good habits," Cahill said. It's about making them active, developing their hand-to-eye co-ordination, their balance, even their reaction to colours - it's so important that adults realise how quickly kids pick things up at that age. If you get in the garden with them, get them playing football, it sets them up for life. I've got four kids myself, and I try to pass that enthusiasm and development on to them. Football can give kids fitness but more than that too, the sheer enjoyment, the social wellbeing. I want them to see what I've done, and hopefully I can share some experiences that can inspire them. I was told I'd never make it, and hopefully they can see an example of how you can break down barriers, and achieve your dreams. Cahill himself has the opportunity to pursue a dream of his own - that of playing at a third World Cup - when the Socceroos face Japan, Jordan and Iraq in the trio of defining qualifiers for Brazil 2014 beginning next week in Saitama. It comes after a run of five games in 23 days for the Red Bulls, scoring twice and creating one for Thierry Henry in the draw with Columbus on the weekend. After a crazy few weeks hopefully I'll be spending a couple of days in camp with the kids, sharing some experiences with them. It's nice that I get to go across the country, taking it to 10 different locations. It just shows that Australians are passionate about football, end of story. It's such a multicultural country, but all the different ethnicities love the game. People know how much I talk about Australian kids and football, and these last six months I've been really involved even in choosing the logos, I'm really keen to get the right message across. This is just the start, but the point of this partnership with Foxtel is to create a whole new footprint across the country. I'm really excited by it.