Students involved in the Future Footprints Program were this week invited into the inner sanctum of the West Coast Eagles Football Club and offered an insight into the life of a professional AFL footballer.

The Future Footprints Program is an additional support structure for Indigenous students from regional and remote areas of WA attending residential schools in Perth.

Highlights of the visit included a kicking competition in the West Coast Eagles’ warm-up room and the opportunity to walk up the players’ race onto Patersons Stadium. The students were also eager to hear the story behind the club’s inaugural Indigenous Round guernsey featuring the Waalitj (wedge-tailed eagle) on the design.

The boarding students attend schools a variety of schools in the Association of Independent Schools of Western Australia (AISWA) and come from as far north as Kalumburu and Wyndham in the Kimberley region, as well as towns and remote communities across the Pilbara and regional Western Australia.

The goal of Future Footprints is to support students' engagement in education and to enhance students' transition to and from school, to further education, employment or training.

This opportunity was provided to students within the program to enhance their development as leaders within their respective schools and their communities.