A small group of our Senior Arlparra Academy girls were invited to Alice Springs to participate in work experience with AFLNT. The program was designed to show the students what a typical weekend of local footy looks like and all the elements that go into making it a successful competition. The skills they learned included match management, scoring, umpiring, social media and the general logistics of a sporting competition.

On the Friday night, one of the under 16s girl’s teams had to forfeit due to low numbers. Taking incredible initiative, our Arlparra academy girls, along with the Iwara girls, put their hands up to make a team ensuring the Federals team didn’t miss out on an opportunity to play. Not only did this allow the students an opportunity for skill development but also exposed them to working and playing with students from different communities.

It was an early start on Saturday morning as the girls assisted with the running of Auskick. It was great for students to learn how to work with the young children, set up games relevant to AFL skills, organise equipment and interact with parents. Students took away some great ideas and skills on how we can run engaging and dynamic Auskick clinics on the homelands primary schools in Utopia.

A huge thankyou to Tommy, Clint & the rest of the AFLNT team for inviting us to join the program. We thoroughly enjoyed being involved and academy students learnt some really things about what a job in AFL could be like.

Written by NIamh Geoghegan, Director Arlparra Sports Academy.