IWS Cup – The NFC’s Ceduna Youth Hub Experience

The Norwood Football Club last week hosted 22 junior footballers from the wider Ceduna region on the club’s regional zone of the Eyre Peninsula. 

The trip and experience was made possible through the support and collaboration of NFC Platinum Partners Integrated Waste Services (IWS), the Norwood Football Club and the Ceduna Youth Hub.

The players – ranging from the ages of 11 to 13 – travelled from Ceduna to Norwood on Thursday, November 21, and stayed at the club for four nights.

The trip included a football match on Norwood Oval between the travelling players and Norwood’s U13 Metro Zone players for the “IWS Cup”, as well as an excursion to the Port Adelaide Football Club, the South Australian Museum, Marion, Rostrevor College and IWS’s Wingfield Processing Facility.

The Museum trip was centered around Indigenous history and culture, while the boys also toured the boarding facilities at Rostrevor College.

The excursion to Alberton provided an understanding of the Power’s Next Generation Academy, as well as a tour of the club led by Power 300-gamer Justin Westhoff. The boys also had the chance to meet current player Sam Powell-Pepper and retired club legend Shaun Burgoyne.

Norwood Football Club Talent Manager Craig Roberts said the trip was a valuable experience for the participants.

“As a club we like to support our Regional Zone as much as we can, through experiences like this, the annual SANFL match on the Eyre Peninsula, and the various EP-based Regional Academies,” he said.

“We thank IWS and the Ceduna Youth Hub for making this happen, the boys got a lot out of the experience. They absolutely loved running out on Norwood Oval, and our Metro side was incredibly welcoming to our visitors.

“We got to see first hand some of the outstanding talent coming out of the Eyre Peninsula, while the boys had the opportunity to get a closer look at our club, the city of Adelaide, the school and an understanding of the pathways at Norwood if they choose to make the move across.

“It’s a great step forward in building stronger relationships between the Norwood Football Club, our EP region, and our indigenous communities.”

The club has seen many Eyre Peninsula products come through its junior pathways, and into the senior football program, including current club captain Jacob Kennerley, Ben Jarvis, Henry Nelligan and Tristan Binder, as well as AFLW listed Sachi Syme and the recently AFL drafted Jay Polkinghorne.

“These players highlight the great relationship with the Eyre Peninsula over the past 8-10 years, and experiences like this helps us bolster our commitment and identify talent in that strong EP region,” he said.

“It’s an incredible commitment that young footballers and families based on the Eyre Peninsula make, to travel across to Adelaide to further their football and education, so the more we can do to help, the better.”

IWS takes great pride in supporting the club’s junior pathways, both in Norwood’s metro and regional zones.

IWS Environmental Manager Grace Barila said the boys enjoyed the visit to IWS’s Wingfield site.

“It was wonderful to have the boys visit the IWS site at Wingfield and learn about best waste management practices,” she said.

“Their interest was sparked by the sheer enormity of the operation to manage waste.”