Students from the Fremantle Dockers Sport, Business and Leadership Program, in partnership with the Purple Hands Foundation, have recently travelled to Broome to deliver their Broome major project and assist with the Kimberley 9s carnival.  
 
Marking the third of four major projects to be delivered by the students this year, the crew left early Monday morning to travel to Broome.
 
It was straight into the action as soon as they landed, heading to Broome Primary School to deliver a skills session with the Year 3 students.
 
The group also made a decision to stick around after school had officially finished offering an additional after-school clinic to any interested school students.

On Tuesday, half the group headed to St Mary’s College in the morning as the other half went to Cable Beach Primary for two sessions before lunch.
 
In the afternoon the students split up again, going to Roebuck Primary School and Broome North Primary School.

Program teacher Liam Thompson said it was great to be able to cover all the primary schools in Broome over two days.
 
“Although heat was a big factor, we continued to emphasise that we had an opportunity to make a big impact on these students lives,” Thompson said.
 
“A few of the school students even thought that our female SEDA students were AFLW players, and while they weren’t, you could just see the excitement it brought for these students to have the Fremantle Dockers in their community, that was really special.”

On Wednesday and Thursday, the students assisted with delivering The Purple Hands Foundation Kimberley 9s carnival on Cable Beach, helping with the setup and running of the games across two days.
 
Despite the heat, Thompson said the stories of how far some of groups had come to take part put things into perspective for the group, making the whole experience a memorable one.
 
“To be able to assist the Foundation and the footy Club was pretty special and it was probably the highlight of the entire trip for the students,” Thompson said
 
“Being able to gain an insight into how much work and planning is involved with delivering such a big event was great for the students.

“The students saw it as another opportunity to impress and showcase their skills. They knew exactly what they needed to do and what their role was.
 
“They really felt like they were a staff member at the Club, everybody was so welcoming and it made the experience really enjoyable.”

The students were able to fundraise over $11,000 to fund the trip to Broome, making it the largest of the four major projects to be delivered this year.
 
The final major project will be delivered on November 4 when students assist with a Starkick Inclusion Carnival in partnership with All Abilities WA.

With only a handful of weeks remaining for the program this year, Thompson said he was incredibly thankful for the opportunities Fremantle and the Foundation has provided his class.
 
“The involvement with workshops relating to the curriculum, volunteer opportunities, paid opportunities on game days, practical placement opportunities and getting involved in AFLW clinics, there’s been endless opportunities for students to be involved and hear from different personnel from the Club,” Thompson said.

“The partnership with Curtin University has also been super impactful, from my end I can’t be thankful enough for what the football Club and the Purple Hands Foundation has done for the program, it’s been an amazing year.”

Fremantle Dockers Football Club provides marketing and promotional services on behalf of the Purple Hands Foundation and SEDA Group* relating to the recruitment of prospective students for this program. SEDA Group (RTO 22503).