Sunday the 28^th of June, Perth’s Starkick kids took centre stage at half-time of the Fremantle versus Gold Coast Sun’s game at Optus Stadium. 19 clubs, 88 players, and over 50,000 attendees,

Starkick is a program supporting children and families living with disability, connecting them to community through football. Founded in in 2015, the Joondalup-Kinross Junior Football club (JKJFC) were the second centre to launch Starkick establishing their first team in 2016.

Sam Spiers, JKJFC member and coordinator for the JKJFC Starkick group who participate in the half-time take over, said that her son Thomas wasn’t able to fit in with the usual programs, whether that be Auskick or Cricket Blasters. “He’s very anxious, so, he’ll sort of stay back and figure out how everything works… so he misses out on a lot.” Since having joined Starkick three years ago, Sam says “They’re helping him build his confidence, so he can actually join in and start to play with his peers… He loved it his first year. It took a while to get his confidence in getting involved…This year he’s just, like, full of confidence…he walks around like he owns the place… Starkick is just so accepting of, ‘okay, today you’re really not feeling like it, or today’s a bit overwhelming and you just want to do this at that low pressure.”

Beau has been one of Joondalup’s  longest Starkick participants, joining in the inaugural year, and recently celebrated his 100^th game. Beau lives with Cerebral Palsy and ADHD, due to his physical disability, he was required to have major surgery two years ago. His mother, Kylie, said that Starkick became a platform to make Beau’s rehabilitation program more manageable, more fun. “It’s been an opportunity as a part of his rehab program to stand up. It’s just two hours that we haven’t been able to get him to do, if we just say, for example, walk around the house, he won’t do it. Starkick is a fun way to embrace the physical side of his disability.”

(Picture: Beau on field during the Starkick takeover of Optus Stadium) 

Kylie says that Starkick is incomparable to other programs. Her son, “has tried baseball, but it’s all about what they’re interested in. As someone that’s been doing it for 10 years, he’s obviously very passionate about football… it’s about the volunteers and that families that are involved in Starkick. Also, there’s opportunities like the half-time take-over or the gala days, or having the West Coast Eagles and Femantle Dockers players that attend Starkick.”

Josh and his mother, Kim, moved from Canberra two years ago where he had previously taken part in Auskick. As a kid with stage 2 Autism and a pending ADHD diagnosis, issues with his gross motor skills and social cues, he struggled going into year 3 footy. The contact aspect of the sport, as well as keeping up with kids without disability, made it hard for him to connect with his team. “He’s just a very misunderstood child… the kids and teachers don’t seem to understand him, because with his autism he can be a so honest, and a bit too honest. They seem to think that he’s a rude child, which he really doesn’t mean to be, like, he is a very kind-hearted boy. He absolutely loves other children… but because he’s nine and is trying to get into the realm of being nine, he doesn’t understand if people have been serious with him or are joking with him.”

Then Kim met Sam, who introduced them to Starkick. Josh’s first experience with the program  was at the annual ‘Come and Try’ day held at the West Coast Eagles elite training facility,  which for a hard-core footy fan like Josh, was a dream. Since then, for the past year Josh has been a part of Starkick at Joondalup-Kinross JFC, and has slotted right in; “They all say ‘hello’ to him, they understand him, and he just feels like he’s in his element.”

In comparison to other sports, where coaches, and teammates didn’t seem to understand disability, or have the capabilities to accommodate for Josh’s needs, Kim says that joining Starkick felt inclusive. “If a child’s having a bad day, like a day of ‘I don’t want to do something,’ The coach or coordinator would come up and speak to him, and make him feel like he was involved and wanted… like a part of the team.

(Image: Josh playing half time at Optus Stadium) 

For any footy kid, stepping onto the grass at Optus stadium is exhilarating. But for kids with disabilities who don’t get to see representations of themselves on the field, in a team, stepping onto that field can seem like a much further dream. Kim said that “When the coordinator asked if Josh wanted to do it, he had tears in his eyes because he was so happy.” Sam, who had the experience of being on the field with the Starkick players, saw the extent of this dream play out; “They just loved it…. Josh ran out there crying… We’d been worried because he’s very, very anxious being separate from mum, but he really wanted to do this. He’s like, ‘this is my dream to play at Optus Stadium.’ They were happy tears.”

Kim said that after the event, “when he came back up Josh was like, ‘mum, that was the most amazing experience. It was the best experience of my life.”

If being out on the field was the highlight of the day, the change rooms took a close second place, “They were on cloud 9 even being in the Eagles change rooms. They asked ‘Is this where Waterman and Harley Reid go to the Toilet?’ Like, that was the coolest thing in the world.” 

Starkick’s goal has always been to make sure kids and families not only have the opportunity to play footy, but just as importantly connection to the local community. Starkick runs with a simple but powerful mantra -  “If you want to play, we’ll find a way.” But, it’s more than that. It’s connection, and sharing something many people take for granted.  Starkick is enabling kids, who otherwise might not have had the chance, to live out a dream, have some fun, and be with friends every weekend.

If your child, or someone you know, would like to participate in Starkick, head to their website at starkick.com.au, to find out more.