The Purple Hands Foundation and the Fremantle Dockers headed back to Broome for the third year of the Kimberley 9s AFL beach carnival, with day one of the two-day carnival wrapping up on Tuesday. 

The Cable Beach carnival is part of the wider “Kimberley Connected” program, which is proudly supported by Containers for Change, and has seen schools from across the Kimberley take part in workshops encouraging students to attend school, make positive choices for themselves and their peers and not engage in antisocial behaviour. 

This event is a culmination of all the work put into the Kimberley Connected program from students and is a reward for those who have attended workshops and school and been a positive member of their school and community. 

Travelling around 2,000km from Cockburn to Cable Beach, DP World helped to deliver all of the equipment the Purple Hands Foundation team needed for the event including marquees, footballs, signage, field marking ribbons and so much more. 

Fremantle Dockers players Josh Corbett, Conrad Williams and Mikayla Morrison all travelled up with the Club to be a part of the event and Corbett in particular highlighted just how special it was to be involved. 

“It doesn’t get much better on Cable Beach, it’s my first time up here,” Corbett said. 

“It’s an absolutely amazing location, beautiful blue water and we’ve been lucky the tide has stayed away, so we were able to keep all four fields in play at the same time. 

“I was a bit of a floater for most of the day… I had a great time and was able to float through most of the games, most of the activities and meet most of the kids and have a great time. 

With plenty of young talent on display in the sand, Corbett said he was impressed and a little humbled by his competitors.  

“There is some unbelievable talent up here which, being grade 6’s, I thought I might have had them covered but I definitely got stepped and my ankles broken a few times which was good,” Corbett said. 

“I was backline most of the day, there were stiff-arms going the other way a few of the WA Police volunteers who will be able to have some good stories about getting stiff-armed from the young kids which was very funny.

Corbett, Morrison and Williams all got involved in various activities throughout the first day of the event, finishing it all off with a signing session for the students. 

“It’s fantastic to have Mikayla Morrison and Conrad Williams up here with me who have been great. I think both their arms will be pretty sore from signing autographs, we just finished up a pretty solid half an hour signing session” Corbett said 

“I think Conrad being from up this way made it really enjoyable and a lot of the kids can see a pathway from people up around here with the likes of himself and Bailey Banfield. 

“Conrad was out there today having a good run around and he’s like me just acting like a big kid and Morro obviously coming back from an ACL was able to do some solid goal umpiring and offer some good feedback. We’re all really enjoying the experience.”

Corbett had high praise for all of the work the Purple Hands Foundation and Fremantle Dockers staff had put in, as well as the event support from volunteers and program partners. 

“It’s amazing, I obviously didn’t understand how much work actually goes into the day,” Corbett said. 

“It’s a nice early start to get it all underway but the amount of volunteers and support staff that get it all up throughout the day is such an amazing thing and it’s only three years into it all. 

“It feels like it’s been going on forever how it’s such a well-oiled machine.” 

EVENT PARTNERS AND SUPPORTERS 

Able Electrical
Proud Major Sponsors of the Kimberley Connected Stakeholder sundowner on day two at the Broome Surf Life Saving Club. 

Containers 4 Change
Kimberley Connected and event partner 

DP World
Assisted with packing the truck and transporting all the equipment from Perth to Broome. 

Holdfast
Providing the BBQ for both days feeding around 200 students. 

Safe Style
Providing more than 600 pairs of sunglasses for the event. 

SEDA
Student and teachers volunteering across both days. 

WA Good Food Guide
Partnered with the Purple Hands Foundation to host and deliver a unique dining experience under the stars at Cable Beach for travelling students. The WA Good Food Guide engaged three top WA Chefs to curate menus sent in by students as part of their Kimberley Connected workshops and bring them to life. 

Chefs  

• Scott Bridger (Bib & Tucker) 
• Rohan Parks (Old Young’s) 
• Stephen Watson (Heyder & Shears) 

Developed the menu and cooked meals for 150 travelling students from remote Kimberley regions with support from Pardoo Wagyu, Craig Mostyn Group, Linley Valley Pork and Heyder & Shears who provided produce and event equipment. 

WA Police, Garnduwa & WA Football Commission
Volunteers assisting with umpiring, event setup, student interaction and more across both days. 

Zero2Hero
Providing the ‘Chill Out Zone’ at the event.