Football Is More Than A Game

This program was broadcast on 2xxfm (98.3mhz), through the Australian Community Radio Network at 7:00PM on Tuesday 2 November 2010.

Tonights program is a bit special. Football is life and life is Football. Football crosses every boundary in our society and across every nation state, gender, race, ethnic group and religious belief on the planet. Football is so inclusive. Football's capacity to build "community" is limitless.
One of the most joyful and thoroughly decent things to accompany the Football is the game’s capacity to help people in need.

The game floats on masses of volunteers, people who take on coaching, managing and refereeing, those that work tirelessly and unpaid to assist running Football Clubs. Ordinary people from every walk of life, often putting their hand into their pockets to help get something for a Club to benefit those that play. The battalions of parents who work behind the scenes for young players (and not so young) to ensure they are there able to play, set up the grounds, run the BBQ or canteen, sort out the lost clothes, make sure the water bottles are full, organise transport to and from  and find the money necessary to register them to play. The list or description is endless. A lot of people buy into Football when one young player asks to play Football. The "community" gives a lot to Football!

Football is such a wonderful example of “Community” and we are a very big "community" in the ACT Region. There is only one price of admission - that you are interested in Football. Football Clubs are a social hub for parents and players and supporters. So much important information is exchanged between parents at the games on the sidelines. The things you find out! It knocks Facebook and Twitter into the dustbin. It's so much better to meet and talk to people. Football Clubs are vitally important, as our society  becomes more insular and we, far too self aborbed or obsessed.

What is that our "community", particularly our young players, do in return for the "community"?

As I watched out training for the Summer 20s last week, I reflected on our "community". I watched the coaches giving it their full attention and the football co-ordinator running around like a lunatic fetching balls and doing a hundred other things. All this was accompanied by the usual symphony of player noise and occassional bursts of self interested behaviour. You get used to it if you coach or work with a Club and young players long enough.  But sometimes you wish you could just stop the training and tell the lot of them that are so bloody lucky, and don’t take it all for granted, and ever now and then think of some one other than themselves. The odd player sees it that way instinctively, but most need to be reminded and seldom are. But as I watched our training, I wondered, not for the first time - did many really know how much voluntary work was being done on their behalf? And again I concluded most were bloody clueless. And who's fault is that I thought?

Now I am close to tonights theme – Football is more than the game!

I am always knocked over by the charitable endeavours of some of Football Clubs. Just a couple to illustrate the point – Tuggeranong United FC are running a dawn to dusk football game to raise money for Epilepsy ACT, while Capital Football, Belconnen United, Belnorth and Western Creek are running the Football Connect program for children with disabilities. Then there is the Steve Arnott Challenge to raise money for the Canberra Hospital Oncology ward. There are plenty of other activities we never hear about and should.  I recall that some time ago, Canberra FC running an exhibition match with the Melbourne Knights to aid the Victorian Bushfire Appeal. The people in our "community"  are the real Football heroes.

Wouldn’t it be terrific if the players took it upon themselves to do something as a team for others. Some sort of community work. And if they wanted too we should help make it so. Why couldn't this be a formal part of the Capital Football Season draw and why not start with the Premier League?

Now to sharpen the pencil onthis program's theme.

Some time ago I interviewed a bloke called George Huitker. He’s known to many in football and futsal. He is definitely known to many generations of young citizens in his capacity as a teacher and coach at Radford College (he is in his third decade there). He is a poet, a writer, playwright, musician, actor, player, coach and thoroughly decent human being. At Radford he is simply knwn as “H”. What a glorious understatement - a bit like Bradman's batting average. His two books on Junior Football are recommended reading for every parent with a child playing football and should be compulsory reading for every coach in junior and youth football in Australia. Nothing else comes close.

George Huitker formed and organisation called teamSUPPORT at Radford College, initially around his football players and they set out to do charitable works in the wider community. His teams were playing the game in its widest and most productive context in our community. Football was the vehicle for the development of the human being, not just a football player. They gave up practicing "stepovers" away and stepped in to to help those less fortunate than themseleves. One experience benefited the other. The program has grown enormously, gone well beyond Radford College and too resounding acclaim.

So tonight, we listen to an extract from George Huitker’s book launch for latest book “Little Life”.  George reads a passage from the book on a team SUPPORT activity that involved some of his players. The story in this book is so much more than this, but I’ll leave it to you to read the book. The limk between George Huitlker's philosophy on developing players and developing young citizens is inspirational. So we continue with a part of an interview I did with George Huitker for the NPL some time ago.

This program is for listening and thinking. Football and "community" in its widest sense is at the core of the program.

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