Emmanuel Catholic College started our prestigious Australian Rules Football Specialist Program in 2014, and since its inception it has been a great success going from strength to strength at the College. Following the success of the AFL Program, and the rapid growth of female football in Australia, our AFLW Program commenced in 2022. The Emmanuel Royals Football Academy Program is currently offered as a specialised course in Years 7-10 for both boys and girls. These Academy students have practical and theory classes for 2-4 hours per week. Our Academy has extended into our Year 11 and 12 classes with specialised classes, both inside and outside of school time, focusing on further developing their football skills as well as providing them with life skills to assist them in reaching their goals in the outside world. The Program offers students the opportunity to succeed in the following: football skills development, sports nutrition, fitness testing, injury prevention, game systems/strategies, coaching and umpiring.
Players within the program are able to gain a Certificate II in Sport and Recreation and a Level 1 Coaching Accreditation with an Australian Football focus. This allows our students to gain an education within other sporting industries than being purely a player. The College has excellent partnerships with the West Australian Football Commisision, South Fremantle Football Club and Fremantle Football Club which allows our players to gain an insight on what it takes to make it at the elite level.
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Coaching Staff
Coaching and teaching staff involved within the Emmanuel Catholic College Australian Football Academy Program all contain a Level 2 AFL Coaching qualification. Additionally, all coaching staff have current WAFL coaching and playing experience from a development to senior league level. Academy teaching staff frequently attend students’ community club, development or state football games to observe their performance and provide adequate feedback. Evaluating these performances and providing feedback from the College and community assists in the continual development of their skills and tactics.
Facilities
The sporting facilities at Emmanuel Catholic College are exceptional. The Sport and Performing Arts Centre of Excellence (SPACE) contains a fitness gymnasium, which is commonly used for fitness testing and assessment of players.
A weights conditioning room dedicated to players allows for the introduction and completion of strength and conditioning programs. The state of the art equipment is designed specifically to develop attributes related to football such as increasing strength, power, speed and aiding injury prevention.
Students are regularly filmed during training activities and games to allow for the continual development and correction of skill technique, tactics and game play.
Tours and Excursion
Over the course of the Program, students will be exposed to quality opposition from other schools and Junior Football teams to develop their skills and knowledge of various aspects of the game. The students will have a variety of guest speakers from the South Fremantle Football Club, Fremantle Dockers and West Coast Eagles to provide advice on leadership, goal setting and other important football areas.
In the early years students have the opportunity to attend excursions and camps, travelling to a range of country locations to develop their football and interpersonal skills. Our Year 10 students enjoy the opportunity of travelling to Melbourne to gain memorable life experiences and play against quality Melbourne teams. They also attend AFL games, tour various AFL Clubs training facilities and immerse themselves in a variety of activities Melbourne has to offer.