Pilbara students get tips from AFL players

Port Hedland and Newman Senior High School students had a chance to learn from West Coast Eagles players last week as part of the Kicking Goals program.

Josh Kennedy and Chris Masten hit Newman, while Matt Priddis and Dom Sheed visited Hedland.

Coming from Northampton, where opportunities to interact with sports stars were limited, Kennedy said he felt the importance of the program in regional WA could not be understated.

"I always choose the Pilbara … I love coming up here," he said.

"I'm from a country town and when I was young you'd never really get much interaction with football players … I've been up to Port Hedland for the last two or three years and this is the first time I've been to Newman."

Kennedy said programs like Kicking Goals were great not only for teaching children about sport but encouraging school attendance. "(The program) also gives them a bit of knowledge about diet, professionalism, fitness and all that stuff," he said.

"BHP, V Swans and West Coast have a great program going at the moment and a lot of kids are getting involved.

"It's a chance not only for them to get out and have a kick and shoot a netball but also learn a bit about having a healthy lifestyle."

Kennedy said he was also feeling confident about the Eagles prospects coming into the new season.

He said new coach Adam Simpson had been "terrific".

"Everyone's tracking really nicely, our last training session we had 41 out of 44 players turn up so we've got a full list out there which is a good sign coming into round one," Kennedy said.

"We've learnt a lot from him (Simpson) so far and we're getting into games this week with our first inter-club, so we're looking forward to putting all the stuff from pre-season practice onto the park."