As part of the Perth Wildcats commitment to building strong relationships with the community of Western Australia, development players Ben Purser and Rob Cassir recently attended the Pannawonica Kids School Holiday Program in the Pilbara.

Not only was it an experience for Purser and Cassir, who have both shown impressive signs in their first NBL season as development players, to remember fondly, but for the community of Pannawonica it was a huge thrill to have two members of the Perth Wildcats in their midst.

Purser, who has impressed in his five appearances for the Wildcats this season including a high of six points against the league-leading New Zealand Breakers, takes it up from here and runs through what the trip entailed for himself and his teammate Cassir.

TRIP NORTH
We flew into Karratha and got a bus with a group of other guys to Pannawonica, it was about a two-hour drive. Along the way we got to see a really nice sunset. Because there wasn’t much around except for the bush and everything, it was really clear to see and looked great. We got into where we were staying at night on that first day and even though it wasn’t that big of a town, or site, where we stayed was really nice. We had a really good meal in the dining hall and then we watched a bit of the tennis, and got to bed to get ready for the camp in the morning with the kids.

YOUNGER KIDS CLINIC
We got up in the morning, had another really good breakfast where we were staying and then had our clinic with the little kids. I think they were mostly the children of the Rio Tinto workers there and they five to nine-year-olds, and there was about 12 or 14 of them. We did it inside the hall because it was about 42 degrees outside and we went through a lot of basic sort of drills with them like we do at the Wildcats camps. Then we played some games and did different holiday activities with them all and then had some giveaways for them. They were really excited by that and we had posters and things for them, and even two of our playing singlets that we gave away to two little girls. They actually looked like dresses on them, but they were really happy to get them.

OLDER KIDS CLINIC
It was then onto the clinic with the older group. They were aged from nine to 16 and there was 10 or 12 of them I think. We did that on the outdoor courts that they have as part of the multi-purpose area of the school complex. We ran through some drills and things that were a bit more advanced and they all had a good time with it. We played some games with them as well and then had some more giveaways, and then we signed things for them and they would just want anything signed whether it was posters or things they brought from home or even their arms. It was good fun.

IN THE COMMUNITY

After that because it was so hot we went and had a swim in the community pool. There was also a group from Onslow who had come down who was doing a camp with the Swan Districts Football Club as well, so we all hung out together in the pool and we had a good time cooling down a bit. We then jumped back on the bus to Karratha and while driving it was the day of that lightning and thunder storm, so that was kind of cool to get to see. But we then had a five-hour delay flying out of Karratha because our plane ran into some birds. They had to fly an engineer up from Perth to fix it so we had to wait for him. While we were waiting we watched the Bernard Tomic tennis match, Qantas ordered us some pizzas and it seemed to go fairly quickly.

OVERALL EXPERIENCE
It was actually really cool and a great experience to get the chance to go to such a remote place that you just wouldn’t ordinarily get the opportunity to go and visit. They also don’t get the chance to see professional athletes in the flesh so I think it was a bit of a thrill for them and it was great to be able to go and spend some time with everyone in the community. They seemed excited to have us there and we definitely enjoyed being there. It was a great thing to do and I guess that's just the sort of thing that can be an added bonus to being part of the Wildcats.