The Kimberley Experience - with Trinity Handley

In the lead up to our Round 15 clash with East Fremantle in Kununurra, a few lucky Claremont Football Club representatives took the opportunity to travel throughout the Kimberley region, visiting schools and communities to run football clinics and deliver various presentations, all while learning a little bit about the local ways of life.

The travelling party consisted of Claremont Football Club Players Andrew Browne, Trinity Handley and Jake Murphy, Football Operations Manager Dean Horsington, League Assistant Coach Wayne Orsi and Football Operations Assistant Warren Parker who all travelled to Kununurra a few days before the rest of the playing squad.

The party broke up and travelled in different directions to cover as much ground as possible.

Trinity Handley was kind enough to share some of his experience with us.

WHEN the possibility of travelling up to the Kimberly to represent the Claremont Football Club on some community visits was put to me, I was genuinely excited to put my hand up. I knew I wouldn’t regret it.

After arriving in Kununurra, a small travelling party consisting of Warren Parker (CFC), Ryan and Scott from Garnduwa, (an organization based in the Kimberly to develop sport and recreation in remote Kimberly communities) and myself paid visits to Warman, Red Hill, Doon Doon, Kununurra Senior High School and Halls Creek Senior High School where we had the opportunity to meet the locals and have a kick with the kids.

Thanks to the Claremont Football Club for the opportunity and to all staff involved including those from Garnduwa, the Community Teachers and the Clontarf staff and volunteers.

The following is a short diary entry describing one of our early morning training sessions.

“Driving through the Kimberly on the Great Northern Highway you can’t help but feel another world away from the endless urban sprawl of our state’s southern capital. The weather is about as warm as the people and there is a relaxed way of doing things. Perhaps the most obvious point of difference is the abundance of uncompromised natural beauty. Burnt red rock regularly juts out of an otherwise surprisingly green landscape while overhead, the blue half dome sky ensures that the temperature remains somewhere between pleasant and unpleasantly hot. It’s rugged and quite handsome.

Then there’s the footy…

Warm up starts at 6:30am. I love a sleep in, but if 7 year olds are capable of getting themselves to school at that hour then the surely so can I. Truth is, it’s the best part of the day. Light, crisp, a real sense of achievement.

20 odd bleary eyed kids greet us as we arrive and perhaps a dozen more filter through during a fairly typical warm up. A few skill drills follow but let’s not kid ourselves - the scratch match is always the main event. The group is divided into roughly two equal teams and the excitement of playing a game gets the better of me too as I find a patch of grass on the half back flank in the hope of getting a kick or two.

Ages range from 7 to 16 and despite their on-field dominance, older kids know to look after their younger counterparts. Few umpiring decisions are made and there is no clearly defined boundary line either however there is order in the apparent disorder. Everything works just fine.

The beautiful part of it is the amount of enjoyment the kids get out of just playing the game. Without fear, unrestrained by the team rules and structures that dominate senior football. Some actually giggle as they run away with the ball. It takes me back to my own earliest memories of the game”

- Trinity Handley