KIMBERLEY SPIRIT SQUAD

The Claremont Football Club and Claremont House, supported by H&M Tracey, recently hosted three Futures players and one staff member from our Kimberley Spirit squad during a trip to Perth.

Eric Benning (Kununurra), Dallas McAdam (Halls Creek) & Darcy Williams (Broome) were chosen for the opportunity by Claremont Acting Talent Manager, Jordan Smith, in consultation with Garnduwa’s Kimberley Spirit Program Coordinator, Carl Merrison.

During their time in Perth, Carl and the boys stayed at our newly minted ‘H&M Tracey House’ in Mount Claremont. Harold Tracey is a Kimberley based builder who is also Shire President of Broome. As an avid Tigers man and supporter of his local community, Harold has come on board for the next three years to support our wonderful club and in particular assist in the transition of regionally based players. 

The Claremont Football Club has a rich history of producing league footballers and AFL draftees from our Kimberley regional zone. At last year’s NAB AFL National Draft, five players from Claremont’s Kimberley region made their way onto AFL lists.

These were league player Anthony Treacy, former Claremont Colt Jy Farrar, and Fremantle Dockers Next Generation Academy members Liam Henry, Leno Thomas and Isaiah Butters. Thomas and Butters were part of the 2019 Claremont Colts premiership team, while Henry was unlucky to miss out due to a knee injury.

Other familiar AFL names from our Kimberley zone include Jason Carter, Francis Watson, Sam Petrevski-Seton, Joel Hamling and recent Adelaide Crows debutant Shane McAdam.

Smith said the recent trip was an important contact point for the three lucky young men.

“With a lot of our recent success stories from our Kimberley region, the Claremont Football Club journey began early on. For Eric, Dallas and Darcy, this was a great chance for them to get some initial exposure to the Claremont Talent Pathway, ahead of hopefully further involvement in the years ahead.

“The opportunity for the boys to soak up the professionalism of our programs down in Perth is invaluable for their continued development, while from a club perspective, it’s an opportunity for us as well, to engage these immensely talented young men in our programs and give them the chance to test their skills alongside the most talented young footballers in WA for their age as part of the WAFL Futures Competition.

During the time they were in Perth, the boys represented Claremont FC in two WAFL Futures matches against Perth and East Fremantle, while also participating in other activities including a freezing cold beach recovery session (which they didn’t enjoy too much!), and a training session with the Claremont Colts squad.

Outside of these activities, Carl had the boys out and about around Perth and they were down at the club on Saturday to watch all three grades in their Preseason Matches against West Perth. 

Moving forward, the boys will return to Kimberley Spirit training, an operation which Carl oversees across five hubs in the region.

“Our football club is in constant contact with Carl and the team up in the Kimberley to track how the boys are progressing, and we’re always on the lookout for further short or more permanent opportunities to get the boys down to Perth to play the game they love”, Smith said.

The Claremont Football Club would like to thank H&M Tracey, Garnduwa and the West Australian Football Commission for their support in making this recent trip a reality.