Western Bulldogs’ indigenous trio, Liam Jones, Brett Goodes and Koby Stevens were the star attraction of the Club’s Nallei-Jerring (join and unite) Koorie Youth Program workshop held at Whitten Oval this week.

The trio shared their football journeys and took a group of 20 eager Koorie youth and their parents from across Melbourne’s West through the club’s Elite Learning Centre and Bulldogs Museum.

While the young people got to hone their football skills with the players, the parents and guardians of the boys and girls were provided with information on the Victorian Aboriginal Education Association (VAEAI) before the screening of the acclaimed football documentary, “Three Boys Dreaming.”

A focus of the program is on reading and writing with a monthly prize awarded to the best football story submitted by the young people.  The first recipient of the writing award was Kirsty Gosling from Mount St Joseph’s College Altona who received a copy of the book “Legends” on the AFL Indigenous Team of the Century. 

This unique Youth Program aims to support Koorie youth engagement in schools, by providing them with high value experiential opportunities through the Western Bulldogs and its partner agencies as a way of encouraging education attainment and retention, in line with the Victoria Government’s Wannik Education Strategy.

To find out more about the program and to read the young people’s stories, click here.

The next workshop will be held at the AFL Indigenous Round clash between the Dogs and St Kilda at Etihad Stadium.