Efram Garlett (17) of Swan View took part in the Friendship Games 2016 in China.
Camera IconEfram Garlett (17) of Swan View took part in the Friendship Games 2016 in China. Credit: Supplied/David Baylis

Swan View basketballer returns from Friendship Games in China

Sally McGlewCommunity News

BROTHABOY student and basketballer Effie Garlett has just returned from the 2016 Friendship Games in China.

Garlett saw students from Singapore, Indonesia, Australia, Malaysia and China take part in a weeklong competition and cultural exchange.

The Swan View teenager, who is undertaking a traineeship at Midland-based indigenous clothing retailer Brothaboy, played more than a dozen games of basketball against the Shanghai Sharks and other teams in the week spent at the Games.

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Former Wildcats basketballer Andrew Vlahov created the event to encourage engagement and diplomacy with the next generation of leaders in sport and industry.

Basketball, AFL, table tennis and badminton were among the eight sports taught and played at all skill levels over the course of the competition at the end of July.

The teenager said the trip had been a fantastic experience, where he had made a number of good friends with young people from a number of countries.

“It was a really different experience, we tried different food, the climate was hot and humid and very different to Perth and the country is not at all like back home in Australia,” Garlett said.

“It was an awesome experience and I feel very lucky to have taken part.”

Andrew Taylor, Founder of Brothaboy, said the team in Midland was thrilled one of their trainees had been given the opportunity to take part in the Friendship Games.

“We have all been really pleased to support Effie with the opportunity to travel to China to take part in the Friendship Games and we’ve been behind him and his team the whole way,” said Taylor, who is a Claremont Football Club player,” he said.

“Our focus at Brothaboy is to assist disadvantaged, Indigenous students and enable them to access quality education.

“We want to give them the tools and confidence to take full advantage of the opportunities before them, and we’re very pleased that Effie has seized this opportunity to travel to China.”

Brothaboy is an Ausum Initiative, a not for profit, public benevolent institution based in Midland, and a leading social enterprise that sells cool urban clothing in its Midland retail store and online at www.brothaboy.com