A playing squad of 26 players, 19 coaches, support staff and officials, will arrive in Johannesburg late tonight Perth time before boarding a flight to Potchefstroom on Monday to complete a range of community and football development activities in the North West Province. During their time in the region the travelling party will visit the Thakaneng Centre for street kids in Potchefstroom, meet the largely impoverished residents in the Ikageng township and visit the Potchefstroom Regional Correctional Facility. The group will also visit an orphanage for HIV positive children Turffontein.
Midfielder Paul Hasleby said he was looking forward to the 10 day African adventure.
“It will be a great experience for a lot of the young guys that are going across and also some of the senior players to experience a different way of life, some cultural differences and to see just how lucky we are,” Paul said today at Perth International Airport.
“South Africans love their sports, it’s a very beautiful place and we’re looking forward to having a look around.”
Aside from the club’s hectic community based schedule, Fremantle will also conduct a footy clinic with over 800 children in the Ikageng township on the outskirts of Potchefstroom and will invite talented local players to train with them in the lead up to their exhibition clash against Carlton in Pretoria on Saturday 2 February.
Paul said the players were looking forward to seeing how skilful the locals were with a Sherrin.
“We’re going to help the kids get a better grasp on out great game and hopefully in the future we can see some of their players come over here and try their luck,” he said.
Fremantle is one of four AFL clubs allocated game development regions within South Africa, with the club’s North West Province currently having approximately 3,500 registered participants of Australian Rules football. The junior participation programme, FootyWild (South African equivalent to Auskick), enjoys enormous support within South Africa.
The club’s exhibition match against the Blues on Saturday 2 February will be Fremantle’s first proper hit out for 2008 following their 30 minute game simulation training session at Fremantle Oval on Friday. And with round one of the NAB Cup only three weeks away, Paul said the match against Carlton would be a useful yardstick for the group, particularly the younger players, to see how well prepared they were for their match against West Coast at Subiaco Oval on Sunday 17 February.
“From a football point of view it’s a good chance for a young group of players to go over and bond as a team,” Paul said.
“The young guys will have to show whether they’re ready to step up and play in the pre-season competition so I’m sure they’ll be pretty keen to do their best.
Of the 26 players Fremantle has taken to South Africa, only six have played more than 100 AFL games.
“Basically we are taking an under-24 side with a few older guys added in,” Senior Coach Mark Harvey said.
“It is a great initiative by the club to go and play an exhibition game in South Africa which is going to be a growing market for the AFL in the future.
“We will be doing a range of community visits and activities, and some will be real eye-openers for the squad.
“What we hope is that our squad appreciates what they’ve got and how lucky they are.
“They are in a position where they are playing a great game, and they have got understand they are very lucky.
“I am keen for the guys to evolve as people both on and off the field,” said Mark.
The itinerary for the upcoming visit by the club to South Africa is as follows:
Sunday 27 January
The team departs Perth International Airport at 2:30pm arriving in Johannesburg at 6:50pm. The travelling party will stay overnight in Johannesburg before travelling to Potchefstroom on Monday 28 January.
Monday 28 January
The travelling party will arrive in Potchefstroom at 11:30am and after lunch will complete conditioning and recovery sessions at the High Performance Institute of Sport from 1:00pm. A reception will be held with representatives of the North West Provincial Government, club officials, coaches and players in Potchefstroom for the official welcome of the Fremantle Football Club to South Africa and the North West Province. At this reception, the Fremantle Football Club will announce a new major sponsor for the club in South Africa together will other new sponsors who will partner with the club for its development activities within the North West Province.
Tuesday 29 January
Players, coaches and officials will visit the Thakaneng Centre for street kids in Potchefstroom at 9:45am and, after a one hour visit meeting the children of the centre, will move on to visit the Potchefstroom Regional Correctional Facility for one hour from 11:00am. The North West Province Development Officers from AFL South Africa work with inmates regularly to conduct footy clinics as a vehicle to assist individual rehabilitation, including important messages of exercise and healthy lifestyle. At 1:30pm the players will conduct a footy clinic with over 800 children in the Ikageng Township on the outskirts of Potchefstroom. After the clinic has concluded at approximately 3:30pm, the players and coaches will take a brief walk through the township to meet residents. Upon return to Potchefstroom, a weights and recovery session at the High Performance Institute of Sport will conclude the day’s activities.
Wednesday 30 January
The coaches and strength and conditioning staff will conduct an educational training and testing session with local players from 9:45am before the players and coaches conduct the second footy clinic, this time at the Promosa township from 1:30pm.
At 6:00pm the team will have a full team training session at the Military Base fields and will be joined by six selected local players who will complete the session with the team. A further 30 local players will be in attendance to watch training and will be joined by an Assistant Coach who will explain each of the training drills. Another Fremantle Assistant Coach will work with a group of 15 local football coaches giving a detailed explanation of the training session.
Thursday 31 January
The travelling party will depart Potchefstroom for Johannesburg at 9:00am where the team will be based for the remaining days of the visit in the lead-up to the game in Pretoria. The travelling party will depart Johannesburg at 2:30pm to visit Cotlands, an orphanage for HIV positive children in Turffontein from 3:00pm to 4:00pm before departing for a reception at the Australian High Commission in Pretoria.
Friday 1 February
The travelling party will complete a tour of Soweto that will include a visit to Nelson Mandela’s house and the Apartheid Museum from 9:30am to 11:30am. The team will train at SuperSport Park, Pretoria, at 6:30pm before returning to Johannesburg.
Saturday 2 February
The team will arrive at SuperSport Park at 5:30pm. Bounce down for the game against Carlton is 7:30pm and at the conclusion of the game there will be an after-match function for both teams with distinguished guests and sponsors. The team will return to Johannesburg after the function has concluded at 11:30pm. The travelling party will depart Johannesburg on Monday 4 February arriving back in Perth at 10:35pm on Tuesday 5 February.
The preliminary playing squad (to be reduced) is:
FREMANTLE PLAYING SQUAD v CARLTON
2 February 2008
Paul Hasleby
Byron Schammer
Brett Peake
Matthew Carr
Clayton Hinkley
Des Headland
Antoni Grover
Ryan Crowley
David Mundy
Rhys Palmer
Chris Tarrant
Adam Campbell
Steven Dodd
Chris Mayne
Daniel Gilmore
Ryan Murphy
Kepler Bradley
Marcus Drum
Aaron Sandilands
Jeff Farmer
Garrick Ibbotson
Brent Connelly
Michael Johnson
Paul Duffield
Josh Head
Roger Hayden
Match Tickets
Tickets for the Fremantle v Carlton game are available from Computicket. Prices are as follows:
Grandstand 30RAND
Grassed Hill area 20RAND
Child Under 15 10RAND
