Traditional sports at Roche Park

ROCHE PARK collaborated with the Stephen Michael Foundation last week to host the Culture Through Sport Program.

The program is one of many that the Stephen Michael Foundation uses to engage with young people to build strong communities.

Four traditional Indigenous sports, called “meetcha boma”, “borna jokee”, “edor” and “jumpinpin” were played by the 12 children who attended.

South West program coordinator Ijah Coyle explained the origins of the games in Indigenous culture.

“The four sports are part of the Culture Through Sport program and are games that kids play throughout primary and high school,” he said.

“Meetcha boma is like hockey, but obviously they didn’t traditionally have hockey sticks.

“Instead they used sticks and honkey nuts and they would melt tree sap and mould it to form hockey sticks.”

Meetcha boma and borna jokee both originated in WA, Mr Coyle explained.

“Borna jokee was played by the traditional men, and it’s similar to dodgeball.

“It was traditionally played with blunted spears to avoid hurting anyone.

“It develops hand eye coordination and skills of dodging and evasion.”

He was joined by other members of

Virtual legal office opening

LEGAL Aid WA will open a virtual office in Collie today at the Collie Family Centre in Forrest Street.

Attorney general John Quigley and Collie-Preston MLA will launch the virtual office, which will provide access to legal services and information from legal aid lawyers through visual and audio technology.

Appointments are offered across a range of civil law, criminal law and family law matters.

The opening was initially planned for yesterday, but was rescheduled due to “unforeseen circumstances”.

$1000 for swim club

THE Collie Swimming Club will receive $1000 from Healthway this month to support the health of its members.

The funding is part of a Healthway initiative to support nutritional eating during training and events.

Coach Liam Shepherd said the grant will help in the club’s upcoming events.

“We are using the grant to help buy our salads, fruits and water,” he said.

the foundation to teach the cultural history behind the games.

Mr Coyle said the program came at the perfect time for many families, and was a valuable learning experience.

“This time of the year is when lots of families have come back from holidays but school hasn’t started yet so parents and kids are grateful for something to get out and do,” he said.

“Hosting at Roche Park is an awesome opportunity to see the kids learning and build that relationship within Collie.”

Roche Park recreation program coordinator Kim Chappell said the event provided children with different sports, and cultural awareness.