MIDWEST CONTINUES TO SHINE

On Wednesday 10^th February Darryn Fry (Football Manager), Rob Wiley (Head Coach) & myself (Andrew Dodd, Talent Manager) travelled to Geraldton to touch base with key stakeholders in our Midwest region.  It is well acknowledged that East Fremantle’s country zone has been outstanding in producing talent not only within the GNFL but for the Sharks, with many outstanding WAFL and AFL players coming from the region.  In season 2015 East Fremantle Football Club had 23 players from the Midwest represent the Club across the three grades.

After the four and a half hour trip to reach Geraldton, we dropped our gear off before heading off to our various commitments.

Darryn met with Colin Cox, GNFL President and WACFL Board Member, and Heather Brett (Player Welfare Midwest Academy and GNFL Board Member) to discuss all things GNFL and the ongoing partnership between ourselves and the key stakeholders within our country zone, whilst Rob and myself were taken by Craig Walker (Mid-West Academy Coach) to visit the facility of Todd Teakle, where the Academy boys do their fitness and rehabilitation. We then all met at 5:15pm to view the EFFC Midwest Academy training session, which was facilitated by Craig. This saw all of us watch and participate with the 15 Mid-West Academy players as well as sharing some feedback.  The boys certainly trained with great intensity and no doubt would have welcomed the advice and thoughts of our senior coach, with his wealth of experience and knowledge. 

We then headed off to dinner at Colin’s restaurant, Skeetas, with the Mid-West Academy staff which was fantastic, where we continued to discuss best practice and the Academy in general, which is always important.  After dinner we opened up an invitation for Great Northern Football League (GNFL) Presidents and Coaches to be able to have any discussion on the topics which they see important in our relationship with them.  Again the opportunity for them to meet and speak with Rob would no doubt have been worthwhile.

On Thursday morning Rob Wiley facilitated a presentation, in conjunction with the Department of Sport and Recreation, over breakfast where he spoke to the 35member audience about effective training to enable athletes to reach their potential.   It was fantastic to see a broad cross section of the coaches from a variety of sports attend.  After the presentation Darryn and myself had a discussion on pathways, coach education and Shark pack with Regional Officer for the Department of Sport and Recreation (DSR) Simon Barras and Midwest Regional Development Manager Steven Broberg, where upon the completion of that meeting we headed back to Perth in time for senior training.

Thank you to the Mid-West Academy players and Staff, the GNFL representatives and all those who we met while in Geraldton.