More than a game

Parents use a number of different tools to try to teach their children life lessons. Anne-Maree Thomson shares how Australian Rules Football is helping to instil strong values in her sons.

Each job has its tools of the trade, right? I’m a nurse, I carry tape, bung caps and on a bad day, a stethoscope. Salesmen have company vehicles, phones and laptops. Plumbers have tap-tightening thingamajigs and builders have more tools than teachers have pens. What about parents? That’s a job, right? Being a mum or dad qualifies as work, doesn’t it? It’s a fulltime job with no salary or leave entitlements. But what tools equip us for the most important job of all?

When you are expecting a child, you stock up on all sorts of things; nappies, prams, sleep suits, pacifying devices. We look to books, websites and apps for advice on sleeping, feeding, and teething. But then what? What about when your baby isn’t a baby anymore? I haven’t found an app about dealing with attitude and disobedience. And the books about older children take up considerably less space on bookstore shelves than baby references. So what tools do you use to teach a boy about acceptance, work ethic, commitment, goal setting and perseverance? How do you instil in a boy the qualities he needs to become a great man?

My boys are lucky. They are surrounded by men of strong character with outstanding values. But example alone is not enough. So in trying to work out how to teach my boys the right things, I inadvertently stumbled across a tool that teaches them much more than I ever considered.

Australian Rules Football. Who would have thought that 36 blokes chasing a ball around an oval could be anything more than an exercise in physical skill and coordination? I was lucky, I was raised by a man that knew footy to be more than a game. He took me every week to see the Magpies play. All the while I was learning about pride and tradition. I was learning about courage and adversity. I thought I loved it back then, but my love of the game escalated tenfold since I learnt it to be a valuable tool in transforming my boys into amazing young men.

As luck would have it, my love of football was transferred to our children. It started plainly enough. They loved watching AFL games. They joined their Dad in the clubrooms after his own football training and games. They learnt about camaraderie and mateship. It was enough for them to pursue their own football journey.

And so now I huddle on the boundary line every Saturday morning. I sit in the car and wait while they train. I watch my boys run and kick and handball. But what you can’t see is what is most important. They are playing with kids from all walks of life. Irrespective of their social and cultural diversity, those kids are accepted as they are. They comply with team and competition rules. Not because the coach nags them, but because they don’t want to let their team mates down. They have developed social skills, confidence and determination. They set goals as individuals and as a team, and they work hard to achieve them. And when they don’t quite get there, they get up and try again. Work ethic and commitment are just words to young boys, but these kids train in the hail and the mud.

So next time you watch a team sport, look beyond the scoreboard. Consider using it as a tool of your trade. For our family, football has proven to be far more than just a game. I count my blessings as I wash mud out of footy uniforms, as it means the best lessons of all have already been taught.