May Melbourne Football Club Trip
Towards the end of May Melbourne Football Club headed to Alice Springs for some community events in the lead up to the AFL match at Traeger Park on Sunday 2nd June.
Milpa was thrilled to throw on (squeeze into) the latest MFC Guernsey and meet up with players and staff. There was a trip out to Yuendumu on the Thursday and similar to last year the rain started the night before and did not let up all day.
Instead of a footy carnival on the Yuendumu oval involving a few local schools organised by AFL NT we had to run with plan b which was a visit to Yuendumu school. Luckily, the enthusiasm of the primary and secondary school students and teachers matched that of the AFLW players Tyla Hanks, Sarah Lampard, Maeve Chaplin, Saraid Taylor, Lily Johnson and Jessie Mulholland (Head of women's football). There was more opportunity inside at the school for discussion and interaction which was great to see.
Yuendumu school principal Marisa Boscato spoke about the great school attendance on the day (66%) and the school values – in Walpiri and English
- Yulkanaku (Kindness)
- Pukurl-pukurlpa (Pride)
- Jintangka (Together as One)
MFC spoke about their values: Trust, Respect, Unity, Excellence. It was interesting to note that the values shared some common themes.
Image: Yuendumu School values
The students had questions for the players about their training and life outside football. Lesley Martin IEHU Community Engagement Officer and Milpa spoke with the various groups about Milpa’s Six Steps and the importance of clean faces! The players remarked on the quick reflexes of the students as they engaged in some indoor activities. IEHU and Milpa organised some hygiene bags for the young ones and lunch for all at the school.
Image: The school had made a special sign to welcoming MFC
The wet rainy day reminded us of a very early visit to Yuendumu with MFC, Jim Stynes, Liam Jurrah, players and staff in 2010. That was the trip that kicked off the nearly 14 year relationship with MFC supporting Milpa and the trachoma 'Clean Faces, Strong Eyes' health promotion campaign.
On the Friday, we all headed to Ltyentye Apurte (Santa Teresa), the rain stopped thankfully and the sun came out in the afternoon for the Kungas Remote Central Australia grand final game –Ntaria versus Central West. The MFC AFLW players and staff were joined by mens players Kozzy Picket and Shane McAdam.
Image: Kozzie Picket and Shane McAdam with community members and Milpa
See some videos from MFC featuring Kozzie and Shane: Left or right? Snaps galore in Santa Teresa and NT | Shane and Koz in community
Milpa joined the guard of honour to welcome the Kungas teams onto the ground. The community came out in force and enjoyed interacting with the players and Milpa.
CAAMA radio was onsite for the game and interviewed the players and Lesley Martin from IEHU. Ntaria won the grand final and the MFC AFLW players conducted the presentations.
Image: Milpa was very popular in Ltyentye Apurte (Santa Teresa)
Image: 'Clean Faces, Strong Eyes' with Kozzy Picket, Milpa, Saraid Taylor and Shane McAdam
There were some other school activities in Alice Springs and one of our favourites - Footy 4 Life run by AFL NT. Milpa loved seeing all the happy smiling faces and joining in the run down the guard of honour to grab the footy and kick a goal.
Image: Milpa had a great morning with MFC at Footy4Life!
The fans came out to watch the players train and grab some autographs on the Saturday afternoon at Traegar park.
For the game on Sunday Milpa joined the families and kids from Ltyentye Apurte (Santa Teresa) and Nyirripi to welcome the players onto the ground. Milpa and Flash worked their way around the ground to engage with the crowd. The result of the match a loss to Freemantle was not what we all hoped for after so many positive community events but at least the sun was out and there is always next year.
Image: Milpa with the Ltyentye Apurte (Santa Teresa) and Nyirripi fans cheering the Dees on as they run through the banner.
IEHU would like to thank MFC players and staff, AFL NT, Yuendumu School and community, Ltyentye Apurte community and Footy 4 Life for many great activities and for the opportunity for Milpa and Lesley to share and reinforce the importance of ‘clean faces’ and good hygiene.