East Perth Royals set up football clinic for Lower South West hopefuls in Manjimup

Young Manjimup footy hopefuls were given an opportunity to enjoy a school holiday clinic last week with big names from a WAFL team. East Perth Football Club hosted primary school students at the Manjimup Tigers Football Club on July 10, with attendees put through their paces with a number of football exercises and activities. A number of the club’s big names made the trek down south, including football manager Warren Parker, league senior coach Ross McQueen, league forward coach Steven Healy and colts player Xavier Milner. Mr Parker said he was “overwhelmed” by the amount of kids who wanted to get involved with the football clinic. “We don’t get as much opportunity to come down to the region as much as we like and it’s great to see the intake of kids we’ve got,” he said. Mr Parker highlighted the significance of sport in regional areas such as Manjimup, calling the activity a “fabric of life”. “A lot of communities are built around sporting clubs and it’s so important to people’s well-being and mental health, and it starts at the grassroots level,” he said. “If we can inspire a bunch of kids to continue playing or come join us in football by bringing some East Perth players, that’s fantastic for us.” Royals business development manager Shaun Hughes said the clinic was a way for the club to gain engagement from young South West kids, noting the potential talent in the region. “(It’s about) getting the kids involved in something that is fun, helping them develop skills without it being structured, and they get to become better footballers,” he said. Mr Hughes said the “overriding message” of the clinic for the club was to get kids more involved with the sport and highlight the significance of football in the region. “There’s a lot of physical health (benefits) but it’s also about the camaraderie and friendships and the mental health side of it that footy clubs can help with,” he said. “I know from a small town perspective, the longer you can keep the kids in a small country town, the better the town is and the happier and larger it stays, and it avoids the shutdowns that happen in other towns.”