PORT Adelaide's 'Brus Bus' has arrived in Alice Springs carrying 22 Aboriginal AFL Academy players as well as Power CEO Keith Thomas.
The bus left Adelaide on Wednesday morning for Port Augusta where the Academy players held footy clinic before camping at Cooper Pedy Area School.
On Thursday the group made their way into the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands and visited a community in Indulkaa for another football clinic.
Thomas and the players donated a number of pairs of football boots through the Power's relationship with charity organization Soles for Souls.
They arrived in Alice Springs on Thursday night and will take on another academy side – Clontarf Academy – before Port plays Melbourne at Traeger Park on Saturday.
Port's Aboriginal programs manager Paul Vandenbergh told AFL.com.au the trip was the perfect opportunity for the club's boss to experience one of its key initiatives first hand.
He said Thomas had relished the experience – although he couldn't be tempted into trying kangaroo tail in Port Augusta.
"Having a CEO on board you're trying to take it easy and asking him 'do you want to do this or that?' but he's just been so hands on with everything," Vandenbergh said.
"Keith is really big on doing good things so that good things will be returned.
"He had a conversation with the boys at the end of our visit to Indulkana and said 'I have the same conversation with the Power boys – whether you're Chad Wingard, or whether you're Byron Pickett or whether it's you guys – you never know the impact you can have on an individual.'
"He's been drumming that into these boys the whole trip because you just never know how you can help others … it's very powerful for these guys to hear."
Along with Thomas, Vandenbergh said the academy players had also taken much from their trip through the middle of the continent.
The Aboriginal AFL Academy is a collection of some of the best indigenous football talent from South Australia and the Northern Territory, but their place in the system is dependent on strict academic performance.
Last year the program helped 27 of the 30 members receive their South Australian Certificate of Education.
Their position in the program is a privilege – a reality Vandenbergh said had hit home while visiting those who didn't have the same opportunities.
"As we were leaving we asked the boys to describe how they were feeling in one word and few said things like 'excited' and 'enthusiastic' but a number also said they were grateful and that's what we were hoping for," he said.
"They're grateful for the opportunities they have in Adelaide when compared to what some of the kids in remote communities don't have.
"That was powerful."
