T-SHIRTDESIGNANDSTORYTELLING

Secondary

Kimberley9scarnival

The Kimberley 9s Carnival was held in October and saw 32 primary and secondary schools from across the Kimberley participate in a nine-a-side footy carnival on Cable Beach, Broome Building on from the success of the first carnival in 2021, the event brought together stakeholders in Garnduwa, the West Australian Football Commission, WA Police and Fremantle Football Club to deliver an incredible two days that will be cemented in the hearts and minds of everyone who participated Sullivan's Logistics transported all the equipment up for the carnival and the event could not run without Tim Sullivan's generous contribution and support of the carnival

The carnival is aimed at tackling falling school attendance rates and rising youth crime in the region and is the aspirational reward for students who attend school consistently, are positive community members and participate in the school-delivered Kimberley Connected program Over the two days, 400 students participated in round-robin AFL 9s games with the fields created along the white sands of the iconic Cable Beach Fremantle AFL player and local Broome boy Bailey Banfield was in attendance to help with the teams and many of the participants were trying to recruit him to gain the advantage for the day

The Kimberley 9s Carnival wouldn’t be possible without the support of WA Police, whose investment in the program demonstrates the motivation and drive to make a difference at grassroots level by thinking outside the box and embracing a concept that can connect with so many young people

WA Police were all hands-on-deck throughout the two days and took up important roles such as goal umpiring, running the lines and managing the school teams The WA Police involvement provides a benefit to the students and the community and allows the students to build rapport with their local officers and see them as a “teammate” when back in their communities

The carnival is so much more than football, with PHF and program partners zero2hero providing a chill out zone at the event where students could take a moment to relax and reflect, and the Kimberley Aboriginal Medical Services were also on hand delivering practical, bite-sized workshops on social issues for the participants

This event could not have happened without the support of our other event partners in Airbnb, the team from Tyrepower, zero2hero and Containers for Change, who all helped to provide an unforgettable experience