The West Coast Eagles’ Kicking Goals program, delivered in partnership with BHP Billiton and the Swan Districts Football Club, is helping children in some of Western Australia’s most remote locations turn their lives around and reach for the stars.

The program’s ability to facilitate change for the better is best evidenced in the inspirational story of Port Hedland teenager Shaquade Smith.

After falling into the wrong crowd, succumbing to the perils of peer pressure and facing expulsion from school, Smith left Port Hedland midway through Year 8 to attend school in Perth.

He returned to the storied mining town two years later with an interest in joining the BHP and V Swans-sponsored program, which is among Australia’s largest regional-based AFL mentoring programs, combining sport-based initiatives to help high school students in the Pilbara towns of Port Hedland and Newman achieve better educational and employment outcomes.

“A lot of my mates were in the program and coming back I wanted to reconnect with them,” Smith said.

“At the same time I wanted a change for myself. I wanted to stop getting myself in trouble and come back as a new man.”

Smith not only joined the program – he excelled in it.

Such was his dedication to the program, he was offered a position as a Kicking Goals trainee in Year 11.

The now 18-year-old said he forged a new outlook on life since joining the Kicking Goals program.

“I love helping young kids; that’s what I live off now,” he said.

“I will go out of my way just to get a game of football going in the community, just to see the kids being happy and enjoying football.

“I’ve come a long way at such a young age. I’ve kind of stepped up and embraced the role and responsibility. I’m just looking for success in the future.”

Kicking Goals ambassador Nic Naitanui said some kids need different pathways, because as we all know, it’s easy to get distracted.

“The Kicking Goals program helps kids to learn a lot of things," Naitanui said.

"It’s not just about sport, it’s education, learning to cook, learning to drive – it’s all part of it."