Four Adelaide players have this month inspired hundreds of youngsters living in the APY Lands to get excited about maths and science.

Darcy Fogarty, Riley Thilthorpe, Will Hamill and James Rowe travelled to the remote region alongside Adelaide Crows Foundation educators to deliver a program creating real life STEM connections, thanks to support from the Bibbulmun Foundation.

STEMfooty aims to translate Australian kids' love of AFL into an appreciation, understanding, and passion for science, technology, engineering and mathematics underlying the sport.

Members of the Adelaide Crows Foundation also up-skilled teachers so they could deliver the program, which combines classroom learning with hands-on experiences to demonstrate the natural connection between sport, science, and mathematics.

The four-day trip included visits to Ernabella Anangu School, Fregon Anangu School and Amata Anangu School.

Fogarty and Thilthorpe were also involved in setting up a football carnival and judged a dance competition - Ernabella Dance.

Adelaide STEMfooty Manager Katie Gloede was proud to aid teachers with the delivery of the program, which would open up many doors for the students.

“This is our second trip to the APY lands this year to visit schools, meet principals and teachers and build connections with the children,” Gloede said.

“A third visit will take place in October and we hope to return many more times to deliver our STEMfooty Program over the coming years.

“Students in the APY Lands can now make connections with their classroom work and the game they love to watch and play on the weekends, AFL.

“The Adelaide Crows Foundation is proud to have created this bespoke STEMfooty program for First Nation students disadvantaged by rural and remote isolation barriers. 

“A key focus of the program is to engage local teachers so they can sustain STEMfooty within their school curriculum in the long-term future.”

Gloede said the trip would not be possible “without the support and funding of the Bibbulmun Foundation and the continuous support of the Adelaide Football Club and its playing group".

The four players and foundation educators also distributed Adelaide Crows jumpers and other merchandise to the students, thanks to O’Neills.

Fregon Anangu School teacher Nicole Chataway said the program was a great way to ensure students were engaged in school and showed them the opportunities STEM subjects could open up.

“It’s been really awesome having the Crows players here and having the support of the Adelaide Crows Foundation,” Chataway said.

“It’s really rare to have someone that comes out to the Lands and tailors a program directly for our kids and meets their needs.

“STEM provides a lot of pathways for students to do different things while they’re going through school.

“Having STEMfooty helps the kids do things when they leave school, whether that’s going to TAFE or going down to Adelaide for footy programs or getting a job in any field they choose.

“It opens up different career paths they might not have thought about and it helps them learn that being a player isn't the only thing you can do with footy and that’s really exciting for the kids."

Fregon School student Monica, 11, said learning maths through footy was “really fun”.

Indigenous Programs Manager Jeremy Johncock, who also went on the trip said it was an opportunity for the players and staff to immerse themselves in cultural activities.

“We were lucky enough to have local APY man Reuben Burton, who is Director of the Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Education Committee Board take us out on Country,” Johncock said.

“He shared some of the creation stories and he taught us how to make fire.

A common theme in all of it was the important message of two-way learning - the ‘Anangu way and Western way’ - and how we can do both. 

“This really resonated for me and what we’re trying to achieve through our programs and the clubs Reconciliation Action plan more broadly. 

“For me it talks to the essence of what Reconciliation is and should be.”

The Bibbulmun Fund supports the design and delivery of programs around entrepreneurship, education, numeracy and literacy for Indigenous students.

The Adelaide Football Club is committed to being an active participant in Australia’s reconciliation journey.