It may be the AFL off-season but the action has not stopped at Fishermans Road with the Mountain Creek State School boys taking to the field against Yirara College visiting from Alice Springs earlier this week.
The Yirara boys travelled over 2000 kilometres to get to the beautiful Sunshine Coast for some sightseeing and a game of footy against arguably one of the best school-based AFL teams on the Sunshine Coast.
Yirara College is a boarding school in Alice Springs for indigenous boys and despite the massive travel time they were all still eager to play some footy.
The Mountain Creek boys were fearlessly led by Justin Pritchett and Peter Bock who love a challenge and enjoyed the opportunity for their boys to play some AFL this close to Christmas and against some seriously fast indigenous athletes coached by Russell Modlin.
AFL Queensland Club Development Officer, Paul Tresise said that games like this show how a sport like AFL can bring cultures and communities together in a positive environment.
“The endeavour was solid, everyone took the game on and showed some great skills in an environment that was fun for players and spectators alike,” Tresise said.
The Yirara boys showed their diversity swapping their swimmers after a morning at Ski and Skurf, Bli Bli to their footy boots with minimal fuss and anticipation for having a kick.
The game was played in a great spirit with the highlight being when the teams crossed over for a mixed hit-out in the name of the game and having some fun.
Umpire Development Officer, Rohan Briggs said it was a great opportunity to see everyone having fun on the field and the opportunity for the players to mix with other players with a vastly different background.
“The cross over game was great and even though I pulled on a jersey and made a few dubious decisions everyone had smiles on their faces, got a kick and had a crack at booting a goal,” Briggs said.
“The spirit of both teams and the players didn’t waiver throughout the day and even though Mountain Creek outclassed Yirara it was the flashes of brilliance from the Yirara boys that were encouraging to see especially for the development of AFL in our multicultural communities.”
“Both teams were extremely competitive and even in the spirit of a fun game the boys skill level still sky rocketed with a few ‘speckies’ providing spectators with something to get vocal and cheer about.”
At the end of the day players of the match were awarded from both schools with Clancy Miller taking honours for Mountain Creek and Tyrell from Yirara.
With the success of this event we hope to see something similar provided annually for Sunshine Coast schools to participate and outback Australian communities to visit the beach and play some AFL.
Last Modified on 02/02/2012 13:05