Fremantle’s Fans and Community Team recently completed its term one activities, with plenty of programs on offer for young Fremantle fans out in the community.

Take a look below at all the happenings in the community space at Fremantle across term one of the school calendar.

Loftus Holiday Program (Thursday 6 January)
Fremantle AFLW stars Roxy Roux and Aine Tighe delivered a two-hour clinic including skills, games, signings and giveaways as part of the Loftus Recreation Centre’s School Holiday program. 

30 participants aged six-to-12 were involved with the clinic culminating in a series of small sided games. 

Feedback from participants and the centre was very positive as the Club continues to build its partnership with the centre through their Freo Footprints and holiday programs. 

Zero2Hero Camp HERO Sports (Thursday 20 January)
Fremantle’s Fans and Community Team delivered a two-hour session as part of Camp HERO Sports, a dynamic three-day school holiday program run by Zero2Hero. 

The session involved almost 100 participants over three groups with a focus on football skills as well as resilience, teamwork, and sportsmanship.

This program again strengthens the Club’s relationship and partnership with Zero2Hero which has continued to grow over the past year. 

Junior Draft Day
Unfortunately, due to Covid-19, the annual Junior Draft Day was cancelled again in 2022.

To ensure the Club’s young fans got the opportunity to engage with Fremantle’s AFL men’s team, the Fans and Community Team ran a live Q&A for all registered participants who got to ask questions and hear from Caleb Serong, Michael Walters, Andrew Brayshaw, Griffin Logue, Jye Amiss and Neil Erasmus. 

2022 Virtual AFL Community Camp
This year saw our annual community camp go virtual for the second consecutive year which allowed us to get great access to our regional fans & supporters.

This initiative involved the entire playing squad who actively engaged in virtual classroom school appearances across Fremantle’s five WAFL metro zones and regional NGA zones.

Players shared their own story/journey into the AFL along with delivering some key messages around the importance of living a healthy lifestyle such as making healthy food choices and fuelling the body for performance, as well as a focus around leadership and resilience. The session concluded with a Q&A for the students to ask questions to the playing group.

Additionally, a selected group of 500 participants and volunteers involved with community football combined, received a personalised video message from the players thanking them for their commitment of service acknowledging the importance their role has within a football club and allowing the opportunity for community football to continue to grow and develop.

Players shared and reflected back on their own memories of community football where some of their most fond memories of playing football were formed and wished the participants all the best for the upcoming season, reinforcing the importance to have fun with football and enjoy the company of teammates. 

Freo Footprints
Overall, 107 participants registered for Term One in the Freo Footprints program. A range of returning and new participants were involved in the first program for 2022, as each child got to run, catch, kick and jump like a future Freo Docker!

The final week of the program culminated in all the fun games played across the past seven weeks, while participants also received an A4 skills sheet and magnet to stick on their fridge, a 2022 team poster and a customised Freo Footprints water bottle.

The Fans and Community Team also sold Starlight wands on the last week to coincide with Fremantle’s Starlight Purple Haze Game, presented by South32, with over $450 raised for the Starlight Foundation from Freo Footprints participants.

Footprints is back again for Term Two at Mandurah Aquatic and Recreation Centre, Cockburn ARC, Loftus Recreation Centre and LesiureFit Melville. The second term is due to start on the third week of May.

School Programs
Unfortunately, a number of school programs were hampered due to the current situation surrounding Covid-19. 

The Fans and Community Team were glad to still be able to deliver Freo Fundamentals for Pre-Primary and Year One students at Our Lady of Fatima PS, Brabham PS, Our Lady of Mercy PS, Sacred Heart PS, Infant Jesus School, and Tranby College for over 750 students. 

Freo Fundamentals at Our Lady of Fatima
Our Lady of Fatima Primary School celebrated the culmination of the Freo Fundamentals program at the end of Term One. 

The program, which was delivered in partnership with the Purple Hands Foundation and SEDA Sports, Business and Leadership Development students was a huge success. 

Almost 120 students from Year One to Year Five participated in four sessions over four weeks where coaches worked one-on-one and in small groups to build relationships and develop fundamental movement and footy skills in a fun and enjoyable environment.  The final week marked a celebration and opportunity to showcase the significant development in skills and confidence of the students where they got to take part in some games and have a kick with AFLW player Aine Tighe. 

All students also received a Freo AFL and AFL Women’s team poster as a reward for their excellent efforts across the term.  

Programmed Visit to St John XXIII (Wednesday 6 April)
AFLW teammates Aine Tighe and Mim Strom visited St John XXIII in Mount Claremont to take Year Six students through some fun football clinics. The clinics were made possible thanks to the generous support of Fremantle’s co-major partner, Programmed. 

The students thoroughly enjoyed the experience while practicing their skills, taking on our AFLW stars in a series of fun footy challenges and activities while also learning about their football journeys and what it’s like to play for the Fremantle Dockers. 

The students showcased excellent skills and showed wonderful energy and enthusiasm throughout the session.

South Metro TAFE English Learning Centre (28 February and 14 March)
The Fans and Community Team visited the South Metro TAFE English Learning Centre over the month of March to deliver an introduction to the Fremantle Football Club and a skills session for 80 adult migrants to WA from countries such as China and Afghanistan.

Participants were taken through some basic skills and some learnings of the Club and got to walk away with a small merchandise pack.

SEDA Year 11 & 12 Induction Day
In February, the Fans and Community Team welcomed 53 new SEDA students to the extended Fremantle Dockers Family along with welcoming back last year’s Year 11 cohort who are transitioning into their final year of studies as part of Freo’s annual induction.

This served as a great opportunity to provide the new students with an understanding on how the Fremantle Dockers Football Club operates as a business, beyond what is seen on TV or out on the oval, with a specific focus to Freo’s Fans and Community Program.

The induction day concluded with a skills/clinic delivery refresher facilitated by Tighe, Roux and Strom who also shared with the group their recent hub life in Melbourne with a specific focus on resilience and what coping mechanisms/support they have used through times of adversity.

The impact and importance of this partnership has already been on display with students assisting with the Club’s match day activations at Optus Stadium such as Purple Playground.

SEDA students will also be heavily involved across Term Two school clinics and assisting with umpire support at WAFC/FFC partnered school competitions.

Partnered Club Year 4 Curtain Raiser
Fremantle welcomed back curtain raisers with their annual Partner Club Year Four lightning carnival getting season 2022 underway ahead of Freo’s round four fixture against GWS at Optus Stadium.

Fremantle’s state partner clubs include The Dalyellup Dockers, Ellenbrook Dockers, Fremantle City Dockers & Secret Harbour Dockers, with the Club proud to be able to provide this opportunity for these young participants to run out onto Optus Stadium to experience what it is like to play on one of the AFL’s biggest stages.

While it is no doubt something that the participants will remember fondly, it is just one of the experiences that Fremantle are fortunate enough to provide to their Partner Clubs in return for their unwavering support. 

WA Police Coach Education Sessions
Across Term One, three coach education sessions have been delivered with WA Police.

These have been extremely well received by the police force and has a combined aim to upskill WAPOL graduates to see football as an avenue to build trust within the community by engagement at school or after school at a community football club.

The graduates come out of the session as level one coaches through the program delivered with the WAFC and FFC and are educated in how to deal with young people.

If one young West Australian can stay away from jail or stay at school for another day, then the program will have succeeded. This outcome hopes to be achieved through building trust and relationships with WAPOL through the use of football programs.

The three sessions have seen 160 graduates pass through the program to date.