Country Week is always a week full of fun and excitement as students from around the state descend on Perth for sporting competition.

The event was run over five days by School Sport WA alongside the WAFC, with the 2023 carnival being the first since 2019 without covid restrictions.

Schools from all over WA came together to participate in competitions of varying sports and activities including AFL, Basketball, Debating, Dance and more, with schools competing in ranging divisions.

Both AFL and AFLW players alongside Rick the Rock attended the week, cheering from the sidelines to watch the next generation of athletes compete against one another.

A range of schools won in differing sports, but for the AFL competition it came down to Bunbury Catholic College defeating Australind Senior High School in both the male and female A-division grand finals.

South West Community Coordinator Melanie Toia is based in Bunbury, and was proud to see students from her region and beyond enjoying themselves throughout the week.

“It was awesome to see kids from all over the state not only playing with their friends but also meeting kids from different regions,” she said.

“The sportsmanship was fantastic, and it was great to see the teachers in more of a coaching role as opposed to their usual teaching roles. Country week is a great chance for them to connect with the students on a different level.”

“Lots of kids were loving the opportunity to get a photo with Rick the Rock and getting him in photos and on their socials which just created a fun atmosphere, and the week took the club’s involvement in footy to another level.”

“It was great for the West Coast Eagles to be involved in country week for the first time in a few years.”

Toia also praised the success of the Eagles school-based programs, highlighting the club’s connection with students in regional areas through these programs.

“Earlier in the year we took SOAR to schools down south and both schools involved in the A-grade girls grand final were two schools the program was run in.”

“It was a really good connection piece for the girls, they’ve listened to our AFLW players talk about their journey in their lecture theatre at schools and now these players show up to watch them play.”

“I think it put real value on Country Week the fact that our players took the time out to come along and support students they’ve been involved with in our programs.”

Senior High Schools Country Week was another connection piece between the club and the WAFC and highlights our continuous focus to grow the game across Western Australia.