Footy, Footy, Footy………it must be God’s country

On a recent trip back to Australia I finally made it out to Perth. Three previous attempts hadn’t worked out as plane companies went broke (for you Aussies, remember Compass and the even shorter lived Southern Airlines) but my WA mates have always told me that it’s God’s country. Well, if it’s true, there’s no doubt he resides in Fremantle. What a beautiful place.

I was even luckier to be staying with Grilla, our famous Nationals commentator, who wasted no time in taking me to the hallowed ground of his beloved South Fremantle, where the big Fella once roamed the wing as if it was his own, bedazzling opponents with his speed and athleticism (that’s the way Grilla tells it). Apparently, he can run as fast as he talks!

It just so happened that the US students from St. Johns Minnesota and Notre Dame were training at the time, the guys with Brendon Bleakley (CBC Old Boys Football Club) and the girls with Jason Burton from S. Fremantle. Perhaps I should have trained with the girls, but my wife, Crystal, was there and I’m not THAT stupid, so I jogged out there with the boys.

Bleaks was giving the guys a crash course in Australian Football and they were lapping it up. Fit and as keen as mustard, if it wasn’t for their need for time to develop their skills, you would have thought they were an oversized U/19 squad. Their enthusiasm was infectious and while Bleaks pushed them, he made sure he kept it fun as well. The hard ground and their speed were too much for me and I had to trudge off before the session was over. This just happened to be as they finished off with a contact handball game. One thing for certain is, we don’t have to teach these guys how to tackle. Man, they hit hard! I got all bruised up just from watching them!

This whole fantastic initiative was orchestrated by Tony Fairhead and is going to do incredible things for the development of US college footy. As I shied away from the handball game, it was just in time for Tony to collar me on the forward flank and show me the spot where he once took a great grab, baulked one or two (or was it three?) and kicked a match winning goal from about 55 meters out. Apparently the kick gets longer every year and I was later told from an old Fella in the stands who looked like he’d know, that Tony couldn’t kick over a jam tin! Yep, it looks like both Grilla and Tony have been inflicted by that infamous Aussie, never-let-the-truth-get-in-the-way-of-a-good-story disease!

^{Tony Fairhead relives the big grab over Grilla}

Grilla’s roommate just happens to be Gary Ingraham, one of the runners and trainers with the Fremantle Dockers. The two G’s live in a great little apartment, just a bloke away from one of the postcard white sand beaches of Freo, and is a great little area, full of restaurants, coffee shops, bars and art houses. The two of them are quite the celebrities of the town and a five minute walk down the street takes 20, because of all the people we have to stop and say hello to. Seated at their always reserved table at the popular Roucco’s Italian restaurant, it’s like a who’s who of Fremantle as the procession of friends stop by the table to say hello. I felt like I was sitting with the Freo mafia, with everyone stopping by to pay their respect!

Via a request to Docker’s coach Chris Connolly, they’ve got us tickets to the game against Adelaide and into the rooms before and after the game. It was Shaun McManus’ 200th game and there was a lot of buildup, but it didn’t stop him and Peter Bell coming over to be introduced and have a bit of a chat. It was all pretty cool but with all these tall, young, very fit Aussie footballers walking around getting into their gear, it wasn’t long before Crystal was contemplating trading me in for a younger, newer model. Note to self, next time I get invited into rooms, leave missus at home!

The Dockers duly payed McManus a huge tribute by winning a thriller by a point!

A few days later Tony took me out to Clontarf Football Academy where I met up with Director, Robert Solin. Clontarf is a school for Aboriginals that uses footy as a vehicle to get the kids to stay in school and develop crucial life skills. Due in part to cultural differences and family pressures, many Aboriginal kids have problems in school and their high school graduation rate is extremely low.

Indigenous males start leaving school at age 9 and most have left by the age of 15. This is a major contributor to why:
• 70% of indigenous Australians die before reaching 65, compared to 20% for the rest of Australians
• The death rates for indigenous children under 15 are 2 – 3 times higher than other Australians
• Indigenous Australians are 11 times more likely to be imprisoned
• Indigenous Australians are half as likely as other Australians to continue to Year 12
Data supplied courtesy of www.clontarffootball.com

Clontarf’s success had been extraordinary, taking retention rates from below 1% to over 30% in just seven years. The thing that immediately struck me, yet again, was how the plight of the Australian Aboriginal so parallels that of the Native American Indian. I started to wonder if there are any similar programs for American Indians based around their indigenous game of Lacrosse and if there is, why not get a cross-cultural exchange going. If there isn’t an American indigenous program the equal of Clontarf, then they need to get one.

These two indigenous peoples cultures are very different, yet their problems are so mirrored. Wouldn’t it be great if USFooty could bring these two together and help alleviate one of modern day’s great tragedies?

We had an awesome time in Perth and couldn’t thank Grilla, Gary and Tony enough for their hospitality. Thanks also to Chris Connolly and the Dockers and to the South Fremantle Football Club for making their oval available to the guys and girls from Minnesota. It was five days of footy, footy, footy and by the end Crystal was giving me a good old ribbing about it. I know she didn’t really mind.

If you’d like to know more about the Clontarf program, visit www.clontarffootball.com

- Denis Ryan
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