FIFO workers keep football leagues alive in Pilbara towns with transient populations

Local football leagues in Western Australia's Pilbara are thriving thanks to fly-in, fly-out (FIFO) workers who, in turn, are reaping the physical and mental benefits of team sport in the remote region.

Leagues in Karratha and Newman, 1,200 kilometres north of Perth, offer a FIFO permit, which allows players such as the Karratha Falcons' Cody Rodgers to play in local competitions while away on shift.

Back home, the 24-year-old plays with the Augusta-Margaret River Hawks.

"I thought it would make being away from home doing FIFO a bit more enjoyable … play some footy and make some new mates," he said.

Regular training gives FIFO workers a break from long shifts in the scorching heat, and a chance to be part of a community. It also helps maintain their physical fitness.

The North Pilbara Football League estimates 60 to 70 men and women will utilise the FIFO permit across the league's six teams.

Two leagues, one season

Jesse Mason was quickly snapped up by a local team soon after starting work at Newman, a remote iron ore town of about 7,000 people in the East Pilbara.

"One of the fellas there caught wind that I've played a bit of footy in Perth so he was pretty quick in putting a Tigers polo shirt on my desk and getting me down to training," the 26-year-old construction manager said.

Mason said joining the Newman Tigers allowed him to stay fit so he could play for his home team, Roleystone Football Club, when he was back in Perth.

"They're pretty good with cutting the fees down for FIFO players because they want more and more players to actually join the community and play in Newman as well," he said.

Propping up leagues

While it is hard to pin down exact numbers, the Pilbara Development Commission estimates there are 25,000 FIFO workers in the region at any one time.

Football WA's executive manager of country football Brent Hedley said the FIFO permit had been best utilised in mining regions across the Pilbara and Goldfields.

"We know that participation from a mental health and wellbeing perspective is enormous in terms of what it provides for those participants," Mr Hedley said.

"Obviously it's great for the community, it's great for the individuals involved and we really want to support regional leagues."

In Newman, the local footy league is made up of four senior men's teams, a number that would not be possible without FIFO workers, according to Newman National Football League president Kallan Hutchinson.

"I think at each football club, you probably just about turn over half your list every year just because it's just the way the community is," Mr Hutchinson said.

"It's the camaraderie and the friendship that people make while they're in the community in a town like this, especially in a remote town.

"It gives everyone a bit of an outlet to go out and have fun and be around their mates."

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