Hundreds of Freo fans braved the rain and cold to attend this morning’s open training session at Fremantle Oval.

Before the players took to the field, Aboriginal dance group “Halo” performed.

After watching the boys train in the wintery conditions, the fans got a chance to meet their heroes, get their autographs and have photos taken with them.

Freo and associate charity partner Diabetes WA marked National Diabetes Week by holding a Diabetes Awareness Day at today’s session.

There were free healthy snacks, face painting, Aboriginal art demonstrations, diabetes risk assessment information and giveaways.

The event aimed to raise awareness of the prevalence and affect of diabetes on the Aboriginal community and helped increase awareness of the cumulative and devastating effect the condition can have on people with diabetes more generally.

Diabetes is Australia’s fastest-growing chronic disease, with more than 100,000 people across Western Australia living with the condition. The rate of diabetes among Indigenous people is three times that of non-Indigenous people.

Fremantle Dockers’ Diabetes WA ambassador Michael Johnson, who has family members with diabetes, was also present.

“It’s a big problem in Indigenous society,” Johnson said.

“Little things like getting out and doing a bit of exercise and trying to eat healthy can help it.”

Founded in 1965, Diabetes WA is the peak body and voice of diabetes in Western Australia. It aims to minimise the impact of diabetes in Western Australia and strives to achieve this by:

• Providing a range of support and education services to make living with diabetes easier
• Offering programs that inform the community about the ways of safeguarding against or reducing the impact of diabetes, including Type 2 diabetes prevention initiatives
• Providing resources and information for health professionals
• Advocating on behalf of people with diabetes to eliminate unfair practices and stigma
• Representing a membership base of over 13,000 people affected by, or at risk of, diabetes
• Raising vital funds to support research and programs
• Supplying information and advice to anyone wanting to know more about diabetes.