camp 1: the clinics
What we actually do and how we do it, read it all here.
Our inaugural camp in April 2025 included three different types of clinics.
High Performance Clinic for senior womens football players
Alice Springs clinic (two days) for school aged girls
Remote Community Clinic for young girls and women
We will do a deeper dive into these the clinics, the outcomes and what our participants are saying.
Participant from the Alice Springs School Holiday Clinic
High performance clinic
Day one kicked off with our high performance session, where 43 local female footballers came out in force to train and play with the AFLW’s best. The session was attended by players from the Pinktails academy, and five CAFL clubs, as well as their respective club coaches. We had athletes from 15 years old to mature age women.
The whole premise of this clinic, was to model an AFLW training session from start to finish, and bring high performance to the red centre.
Like all elite programs, the session kicked off with our pre-training meeting where we presented the training plan, set expectations and completed individual player development plans (IDPs). Next, we trained.
Drills were facilitated and participated in by AFLW athletes. The focus was skill acquisition, ball movement and elite standards (mindset & physical).
Our craft rotations, notably the midfield and bodywork station, hosted by Emily Bates, Ally Anderson and Kaitlyn Ashmore, was a highlight for our participants with many key learnings.
The session was wrapped up with an informal Q&A panel with the AFLW athletes. Here we covered some powerful topics, including:
Elite training habits, discipline and resilience in sport
Body image and dealing with scrutiny in women’s sport
Goal setting and managing expectations and failures
Tips on how to stay consistent, elite and professional in under-resourced and remote regions
Dreams and why we need to have them
The feedback was astounding. Our high performance participants spoke of the limited opportunities in Central Australia, but explained that Dreamtime Academy and the Pinktails program are changing that for this community. Next year, Dreamtime Academy will return to Alice Springs and run a “typical pre-season week in the AFLW”, featuring other industry leading guests in coaching and strength & conditioning.
school holiday clinic - alice springs
Next up was our school holiday clinic in Alice Springs. This featured over 70 school aged girls from 4 - 17 years old across 17 schools in the region. This clinic was hosted over two days, with day one including station based activities, off-field workshops and a signing session with a BBQ. The participants returned on day two for round robin games, with the senior students playing alongside AFLW athletes in Brisbane Lions and Sydney Swans Indigenous guernseys.
Participants were lead by Pinktails leaders, rotating through AFLW led drills and a team bonding activity, facilitated by the Redtails Pinktails team.
After all the activities wrapped up, we ran small group workshops about goal setting, positive behaviours and leadership.
Participants were awarded for their commitment, engagement and teamwork. This was termed the “Dreamtime Girl”, and we had five award winners from each age group.
The day finished with a signing session and BBQ for the participants and their friends & family.
In preparing for these clinic, common challenges emerged for young indigneous participants, including transport, food and apparel or footwear. We wanted to ensure that every girl in Alice Springs had the opportunity to attend, if they wanted to. So we proudly worked alongside local organisations like, Alice Springs Town Council, Tangentyere Council, and Lhere Artepe who provided these essential services. Adrift clothing very generously sponsored our apparel, and our guest AFLW players collected over 25 pairs of donated boots. Finally, the Redtails Pinktails program provided all the football equipment. It takes a huge team of likeminded people and organisations to make this happen. We are very appreciative and proud to work alongside organisations that share the same vision and want to pay it forward.
Remote Community clinic - ntaria
This one was special. More than 80 girls and women from Ntaria, Harts Range and Yuendumu turned out to the red dirt oval in Ntaria to play footy.
Featuring activity stations, a full field game and a presentation with a BBQ for the community - the day was memorable for the community, the participants and our team at Dreamtime Academy. We watched in awe as young women snapped goals from the boundary, darted through the corridor bouncing the footy, and leaped for marks. The highlight of the day coming from Faye, a local Ntaria woman, who took the footy from the wing, dodged past multiple players, took a bounce, and slotted a goal from the pocket. It was mesmerising.
Faye - Best on Ground in the Ntaria Game with Hawthorn player, Kaitlyn Ashmore
While the girls got to work, the boys, men and community surrounded the oval, kicking footies back into the field and cheering run down tackles. Community leaders, families, regional council members, and the Central Australian Aboriginal Congress (CAAC) team were all involved for the day of footy.
The Redtails Pinktails program have a strong connection and presence in these remote communities; upskilling local coaches and engaging young people in footy to keep them on the right track in life.
This camp played a crucial role in engaging more remote participants in the Redtails Pinktails program, and will serve as pivotal tool to maintain this engagement into 2026.
learn more: the impact report
The biggest takeaway from this experience, is that remote regions are starved of these opportunities, but when given their chance, they show up, they’re ambitious and they are more than capable. We exist to inspire, armour young women with the tools to succeed in life, and create pathways to outgrow the Dreamtime Academy.
The future looks very bright. If you want to learn more about the impact you can make and what the future of Dreamtime Academy is, check out our impact report below.