Another benefit, for a very select few, is that you can train with the pros.
One youngster who got this opportunity is Lawrence Collard of the Katanning Wanderers Football Club. When West Coast visited Narrogin on Monday and Tuesday, one of the highlights was a training session at the Narrogin Hawks footy ground. And Collard was there among them.
"It was great – an excellent experience to run around with the big boys," he said. "A once-in-a-lifetime experience, I reckon."
Despite following the Swans, Collard is in no doubt when it comes to naming his favourite Eagle, and knows where he wants to take his football.
"Oh, [Daniel] Kerr, easy. He's a midfielder, I'm a midfielder, he's just hard. I love watching him play.
"I want to play AFL, hopefully. I'd like to move up to Perth next year. We're zoned to South Fremantle down here – there's millions of Collards playing for Souths," he said with a laugh.
Graham Combes is the president of Collard's club, and knows it's inevitable that his club will lose Collard to the big smoke.
"Lawrence has been an outstanding junior in our league for a long time now, and was in the right age group to train with the Eagles," he said.
"We're just glad we've got him for another year before he goes – we're pretty happy about that as a club."
