1. Out injured

I should have begun this journal two years ago as so much has happened since then.

I wanted to begin at a moment of climax. Beginning at the end of my youngest son’s junior football days when he captained his local team to a premiership; he was awarded the medal for Best on Ground for the Grand Final game; he was the highest goal kicker for the league for that season kicking over one hundred goals; and he won the Best and Fairest trophy for his local junior club. This is not fiction.

Two years have passed since then. His involvement with the States under 18 competition provided him, and my husband and I, with much enjoyment and broadened our horizons considerably. He represented our state in the National under 18 championship. He captained his under 18 team to a grand final, playing on the famous MCG on AFL grand final day. Finally he was awarded the Best and Fairest trophy for his under 18 club.

Not a bad resume. You would think it was enough to get him drafted. He was overlooked, eventually being picked late by an interstate AFL club. He is yet to play an AFL game but hopefully his time will come. In a future entry I will describe the rollercoaster of emotions we experienced on the fickle draft ride.

So what does all of this mean for me? My husband and I have supported him with his love of aussie rules football since he could first kick a footy at the age of three. We have taken him to games all over the state since then, watching him play, helping out with the clubs in whatever way we could, standing in the cold and rain, waiting for him to finish with his team commitments. We have attended boring fund-raising events and long-winded presentation nights. We have been a loyal, privileged and captive audience. I am sure all parents would say the same thing.

At the time of writing this first entry he is “out injured”. He has a “cork thigh”, which is a common injury for footballers. Today he had a scan and an x-ray. The result of which means he has been instructed not to play for the next four weeks. He will continue to receive the relevant treatment from the staff at the club and continue his remedial training program of swimming and probably some weights.

My husband and I are planning our next trip interstate to visit him and watch him play. We look forward to and thoroughly enjoy these little sojourns to this part of Australia that is unfamiliar to us. It is strange for us not watching him play after all of these years. We try to pick up the interstate broadcast on the radio but the reception fades in and out making it difficult to hear the whole game and not really getting any idea about our son’s personal performance.

Last week he was matched up on a guy they nicknamed “Tarzan”. This is not what any mother wants to hear. Combine this with the poor radio reception and perhaps you can understand that I worry. This year is the first time that I have worried about him on a football field. He has always managed to hold his own quite well against boys of his own age. Now he is in the big time playing with men who are older, bigger, heavier, and more experienced than he. As a footballer’s mother I worry for his welfare. I am sure many parents would say the same thing.

I will try not to identify him or anyone else in this blog because the aim here is to provide a glimpse of this lifestyle and it is not really important who we are. I will refer to my son as “Jeremy” and my husband I will call “John”. I realise how details and specifics can enrich a story, but I will err on the side of being vague if I think that divulging too much information will reveal our identities. Not that we are well known at all. But who knows what the future may bring. I have to be mindful because I am not only writing about my life but also Jeremy’s, John’s and the many other people involved, some of who may well indeed be well known to the public.

This is a typical story of a footballer’s mother. It is not unique and probably more of a cliché. As I continue to write in this journal I will backtrack occasionally in order to illustrate this journey with relevant information and context. Since “Jeremy” is out injured perhaps the next few weeks is a perfect opportunity for this.