Six Children from the Starlight Children’s Foundation joined Fremantle’s Starlight Ambassadors Des Headland, Aaron Sandilands, Chris Tarrant, Chris Mayne and Ryan Murphy for a special Purple Haze experience at the Fremantle Football Club.

The children were Joshua and Ben Barry, of Roleystone, Ewan and Lindsay Fowles, of St James, Aloysius Sharpe, of South Lake, and Joshua Daniels, of Karnup.

Each child had requested an experience with Fremantle through the Starlight Foundation, and the ambassadors made sure the kids’ wishes were all granted.

The event kicked off with the Starlight Quiz which was hosted by Mayne, as the children joined Team Tazzilands and Team Murphland to test their football knowledge.

The looks on their faces said it all as they sat with and spoke to their heroes.

Following the quiz, the children were taken by the ambassadors for a tour of the Fremantle Football Club’s facilities.

Youngster Joshua Barry, who will toss the coin at next week’s Starlight Purple Haze Game at Subiaco Oval, said meeting the players was a wonderful experience.

“They are really nice and they showed us around and I got all their signatures,” Joshua said proudly.

Joshua Daniels said he had an “awesome” time.

“Meeting the players and getting involved one-on-one to have a chat to them was great,” he said.

Aloysius said meeting the players and seeing the facilities had made his day.
“It was really good to see where they work,” he said.

Lindsay said getting to go on a tour of the club was “fun”.

“The pool is really big,” she said.

Starlight Ambassador Des Headland, who helps out the Starlight cause through his Everyday Hero webpage at www.everydayhero.com.au/des_headland, said he enjoyed putting a smile on the children’s faces.

“I’ve been doing this for a while now,” he said. “It’s a good cause and I’ll be putting my hand up to do it for as long as I can.”

“We’ve raised nearly $250,000 since the start of it - and hopefully a bit more this year if we all get involved because it’s all going to the kids for a good cause.”

Headland said seeing the children and what many of them had to contend with in life put playing football into perspective.

“It’s a great initiative that Fremantle do the Starlight Purple Haze Game,” he said.

“We need to try and raise as much money as we can to make sure that the kids
get the best help possible to help them get better.”

Fremantle kicks off its season amidst a sea of purple at Subiaco on Sunday 28 March for the annual Starlight Purple Haze Game, proudly supported by Fremantle Ports.