As pre-season officially kicks off, the West Coast Eagles have travelled to the south-west for their annual Community Camp.

The camp involves school and community visits, open training and signing sessions, and gives the team a chance to connect with the fans and members in towns like Busselton, Dunsborough and Margaret River.

Exciting youngster and Dunsborough local Reuben Ginbey enjoyed being back in his hometown and visiting his former primary school.

“It’s awesome to be back in my hometown and at my old school,” Ginbey said.

“It started out with about 10 kids (on the oval) and then it was a few hundred, so it was really awesome.

“To be back here and getting that kind of attention is something I’ve never experienced before.”

The 19-year-old talent said it was humbling to return to Dunsborough Primary School, where he attended until grade six.

“It’s awesome to hear that I’m inspiring the young kids of Dunsborough,” Ginbey said.

“And to see some of my old teachers who have been teaching here for a long time, and who I had from kindy all the way to year six, it’s really nice to see them.

“To talk to all the local kids yesterday, today and hopefully tomorrow is just really cool.”

Ginbey suffered a season-ending hamstring injury in the second half of last season but said it’s been great to get back on the track with his teammates.

“It’s been awesome, the last two weeks with the younger boys and the first week back with the older boys has been really exciting,” Ginbey said.

“The new guys we’ve got in this year with Harley Reid and all the other boys, over half our list is under 21 now.

“I think our future is looking really bright and for the next few weeks before Christmas, we’re just really putting our best foot forward and working hard and hopefully can get everyone fit and healthy for next year.”

Returning to training after his hamstring recovery, Ginbey looks to be in excellent form, besting his teammates in running time trials, and said he’s worked hard to increase his strength and fitness.

“I guess I had a bit of a disappointing end to last season, doing my hamstring,” Ginbey said.

“So that was my main goal during the off-season, just really getting my legs back to normal and improving them.

“I was back home for a good two months just by myself, I trained with Campbell Chesser for a few weeks, but other than that, I was just by myself, grinding at the oval and ended up coming back super fit.

“This is the fittest and strongest I’ve been, so coming into this year, I’m really excited to see how I can improve on last year.”