Skip to main content Skip to main navigation

Joy of sport in Western Desert

An ECU sports science graduate recently had the unique opportunity to visit a remote Indigenous community as part of the Martu Youth Festival thanks to ECU's partnership with the West Coast Eagles (WCE).

red desert, young guy in baseball cap and sunnies and a beard smiling at camera while young kid in black beanie with orange logo hugs him in a piggy back ECU Sports Science graduate Corey Wilson loving the opportunity to make new friends, while making a real difference

ECU's partnership with West Coast Eagles (WCE) sees us collaborating to share knowledge, expertise, resources and facilities. It also provides ECU students with opportunities to gain hands-on experience, internships, or placements within the community and the sporting industry.

Corey Wilson graduated from ECU's School of Medical and Health Sciences and had been tutoring sports science part-time when he decided to take up the opportunity to go to the Martu Youth Festival.

"I wanted to expand my horizons in the world of sports science, and to give back to communities that just adore footy," said Corey.

The Martu Youth Festival has become a major Western Desert event providing pathway opportunities for young Martu athletes through competitive football, softball and basketball.

The Youth Festival has developed into an annual celebration of sport, music and culture and features performances by local musicians and community members, bringing together remote Western Desert Communities in Western Australia's north.

After a hugely successful carnival in Punmu last year, the 2024 festival was held in Parnngurr, a small remote community six-hours inland from Newman.

Corey volunteered his time to travel over 1500km to support the Eagles community engagement team in running football clinics on the red earth of the Parnngurr community.

"Getting to be in a remote community such as Parnngurr was challenging at times as you don't have all the equipment and resources as you would in Perth. Helping run footy clinics and activities with the kids made me appreciate the resources we have at ECU, and I feel that the experience as a whole has made me a better Sports Scientist," said Corey.

This is the fifth consecutive year the West Coast Eagles have joined a variety of stakeholders to support the Martu Youth Festival.

Eagles Port Hedland Youth Engagement Coordinator Claudia Bailey emphasised the festival's growing impact year-on-year providing AFL pathway opportunities to youth living in remote communities.

red desert all female, all ages footy game blue and gold uniforms, young woman with blonde braid in centre with the footy West Coast Eagles engagement team bringing the joy with an all female, all ages footy game

Claudia said this year was quite special as they organised a competitive game of footy that was an all Wanti (female) game for ages 10-to-40.

"It's important for Martu youth to see females playing AFL not only on television but in their own communities as well, so it was pretty awesome that we were able to make this happen again as it's been a few years since an all-female match has been played.

Our partnership with ECU is a great example of how organisations like the Eagles can gain great benefits in support for our community programs from those trained in the field and in exchange provide real-world learning opportunities for students that gets them out of the classroom and into the community.

Six communities from all over the Martu region of Western Australia came together at this year's carnival to celebrate Martu culture during the school holiday period. Over the course of the five-day carnival, matches ran during the day before the communities came together to celebrate and dance in the evenings with Desert Wave Records organising a rotation of Martu bands to perform on-stage.

Corey explained that the Martu people come from remote communities across such an expansive region, it's not often family members or friends get to see each other, so when they get together, you can tell everyone meant so much to them.

"No matter the outcome of the matches, everyone cherished the time together, whether it was through the football or the live music in the evenings everyone came together and spent quality time with each other," said Corey.

"The biggest takeaway from the experience was how passionate the communities of the Western Desert are about footy, and how powerful the sense of community and togetherness was throughout the whole festival, it was something truly special to be part of.

"The highlight of the festival was getting to represent both ECU and West Coast and getting to see the utter joy on the faces of the players and kids when we were there. Everyone being so welcoming definitely made the experience so much more enjoyable.

red desert green hills in background, young boys footy game blue and gold uniforms, young man with beard and sunnies and blue cap in centre boys all reaching up for the footy ECU Sports Science graduate Corey Wilson working with Martu boys on their footy skills

"If any students get an opportunity to travel to a remote community and help out with a festival like the Martu Youth Festival, I could not recommend it more. It's an experience that every Sports Science should try out at least once during their degree.

"The time up at the Martu Youth Festival is one thing I will never forget and always be grateful that I was able to be a part of."

ECU is the WA university with the most diverse selection of sport-related degrees. Our courses and world-class facilities are developed in consultation with industry to ensure our students gain the relevant skills and knowledge to hit the ground running, through a balance of theory and practical learning.

If you're interested in a career helping people improve their general health and fitness, enhance their sport performance, or understand the business of sport, Sport at ECU could be for you.

Media contacts

For all queries from journalists, official statements from the University or to speak to one of our subject matter experts, please contact our Corporate Relations team.

Telephone: +61 8 6304 2222
Email: pr@ecu.edu.au
Social: follow us on X

Related articles

ECU Racing makes a pitstop at Scitech

Edith Cowan University (ECU) has joined forces with Scitech to promote Western Australian innovation, science and engineering, aiming to enlighten young minds to the endless possibilities that a career in engineering could offer.

Explore ECU Newsroom