The young up-and-comers from Perth and the wider regions of Western Australia have been participating in the Naitanui Academy throughout the year within their respective regions, leading up to this chance to showcase their talent on the biggest stage in the state.
There was representation from all West Coast Eagles Next Generation Academy (NGA) zones with boys from the South West, Goldfields, Great Southern, Midlands and the Pilbara travelling to Perth, with Eagles staff members embedded in each of these regions following suit to participate in the match as coaches and support staff.
The 44 metro and regional boys were combined into two evenly mixed teams and the match itself was a tight one going right down to the wire, resulting in the gold team winning by only two points.
Naitanui Academy Manager, Chris Brown, was thrilled with the talent on display in the Club’s second metro and regional academy showcase and highlighted the importance of opportunities like this for young regional footballers.
“It was fantastic representation from all of our NGA zones; although our Perth-based academies staff visit all the regions at least once a year, it’s great to have all of these kids travel to Perth alongside our regional Eagles staff and allows us to see them perform in match play on a full-ground which is really vital for their development pathway,” Brown said.
“The Club and our Naitanui Academy has had some great success stories with some talented regional kids. Our very own Tyrell Dewar came through our academy system in Kalgoorlie, but even players at other clubs such as Robert Hanson Jr. (North Melbourne), Lawson Humphries (Geelong) and Arthur Jones (Bulldogs) came from our Kalgoorlie, Pilbara and the Great Southern pathways respectively.
“It’s fantastic for WA football as a whole really, the ability to connect kids from remote communities such as Punmu with other kids of a similar age from Kalgoorlie, Albany or Perth is what footy is all about and the West Coast Eagles are so proud to offer these kinds of opportunities.”
West Coast Eagles Regional Programs Manager, Josh Cassidy, emphasised the importance of Eagles regional staff in providing talent pathway opportunities for regional youth.
“It was good to get representation from each region particularly in the academy pathways to give these kids an opportunity to play in Perth on the big stage but also identify some of the really talented ones,” Cassidy said.
“It’s a huge geographical challenge being in WA with just how vast and huge our state is, but for the Club to have staff embedded in the regions connecting with these communities is what allows these sorts of opportunities to happen.
“Some of the regional kids particularly in the Pilbara don’t really have many football opportunities in terms of structured competitions and representative footy, so for our staff to be able to connect with these kids and provide a development pathway through academy sessions leading up to the curtain raisers is extremely important.
“All the work that our regional coordinators do in terms of their community work and stakeholder engagement help build those relationships from an early stage, so with something like this it’s not always easy to capture the kids you want involved."
Working with local stakeholders in each of the regions is vital for coordinating successful and impactful programs; Pilbara staff work closely with Ngurra Kujungka (NK), a key stakeholder in connecting the Club with youth in some of the more remote communities of the Western Desert.
NK Indigenous Sports Development Officer Matthew Moroney travelled down to Perth with some boys from these communities, praising the success of the trip and mentioning the vital role the Club play in providing football opportunities in the far reaches of WA.
“It was a great opportunity to bring some of these talented boys down and play somewhere like Optus. We work closely with West Coast staff members in the Pilbara in a range of ways and this one in particular is super impactful in showing some of the boys where footy can take them,” Moroney said.
“Because they’re so isolated there’s limited opportunities for a lot of these boys to put their talent on display, so we really value working with West Coast and the value they have in guiding them on the pathway to progress their football.”
Cassidy reinforced Moroney’s sentiments on the relationship the West Coast Eagles and Ngurra Kujungka have formed through years of collaboration across the Pilbara.
“NK do a lot of work with First Nations youth in the Western Desert in particular so they allow us to provide these opportunities to really remote communities and bridge the gap between Perth and the more remote regions of WA,” Cassidy said.
“It’s such an important informal partnership that we have with NK and the fact that we’ve built a really strong relationship just allows both parties to achieve great outcomes in the Western Desert.”
The West Coast Eagles are proud of the youth engagement partnership with BHP and all the ongoing relationships with stakeholders across WA, working together to provide football opportunities and pathways to regional youth.
