Last Friday, a group of 30 intrepid Y8 Swanny Tigers turned up at Perth airport with their Fathers (& a handful of Mums) in tow. Kitted out in their brand new training t-shirts and slick personalised duffle bags (generously donated by the Cook family from Bonfire Digital), they boarded a plane and headed to sunny Broome.

Friday night fever began with an extravaganza of football under lights at the Broome Rec Centre. We were warmly greeted by 4 local junior footy clubs belonging to the West Kimberley Junior Football League. Talented players from year 6 through to year 9 came from far and wide, covering Derby, Beagle Bay and Broome.

Swanny players took a little time to adjust to the heat and tempo of the Kimberley style, but by the end we were all an integrated footy family. Plenty of game highlights with special mention to the ‘goal sneak’ female talent, the smallest kid on the field ‘No. 4 Broome Bull catch me if you can’, plus the best mullet in Australia, rumoured to be the original that inspired Bailey Smith.

After 2 hours of footy brilliance, the Sherin was rested and the BBQs were fired up to deliver hundreds of hot dogs and burgers to locals, kindly donated by Crackers (Paul) Keenan. The night finished with our Tigers presenting all of their new Kimberley buddies with a Swanny Tigers Jersey and branded cookies. It was especially memorable to see our city kids bonding with their new friends.

On Saturday, our travelling Tigers visited the Royal Flying Doctor Service where they received a pilot-guided tour of their life-saving jets (thanks to John McDonald). Later that evening, we enjoyed a ‘skins versus shirts’ Aussie-style beach footy match on Cable Beach. The sunset was toasted with a spit roast dinner on the beach, together with the families of our Tigers players who live near Broome. Yet another special highlight was catching the last half of the U19 West Kimberley vs East Kimberley footy match later that night. The Sherin was on display once again by the ‘best of the best’ from around the region, some travelling over 10hrs for the top-end clash. Our Tigers watched in awe, appreciating the fast-paced, high-intensity, tackle-free and corridor-based game.

Our Sunday morning plans for an Indigenous fishing trip didn’t quite go to plan but it did result in a good excavator photo! The boys instead went off in search of dinosaur footprints at Gantheaume Point, visited the Crocodile Park & practiced a few more footy skills by the beach and pool.

Monday saw the team round out a wonderful long weekend by hiring surf & boogie boards at Cable Beach and carving it up until home time.

Excess food was packaged and distributed to the local charity ‘Feed the Little Children Inc’ and excess funds will be donated to the 4 local junior clubs; Broome Bulls, Broome Saints, Cable Beach and Towns Football Club.

Our experience was a result of COVID re-directing us from Melbourne to Broome and we are very thankful. There is no doubt this trip contributed significantly to us and our regional friends and it has left a 2-way positive legacy. The local community hopes our visit can be repeated with Swanny Tigers vs West Kimberley becoming an annual fixture on their footy calendar.

Giving back, building relationships, celebrating culture and diversity, all whilst enjoying footy, made the hallmark of a trip of a lifetime.

Special thanks goes to our Canteen volunteers, Bonfire Digital, Crackers Keenan, Freo Docker Bailey Banfield’s family (Broome Explorer bus transfers), Hutchison family (cookies), Chris Dagostino (Travel Tree travel agent), our additional sponsors Taboni, McDonald, Risinger, Oakley and Johnston families, as well as our friends from West Kimberley Junior Football League and WA Football.