Celebrate the Socceroos, Dockers and State of Origin stars, but never forget where sport’s true heart is

“Sport has the power to change the world. It has the power to unite people in a way that little else does. It speaks to youth in a language they understand. Sport can create hope, where once there was only despair. It is more powerful than governments in breaking down racial barriers. It laughs in the face of all types of discrimination.”

— Nelson Mandela, inaugural Laureus World Sports Awards, Monaco, 2000

Every Saturday and Sunday morning since I came home from the Indian Premier League, you would have found me in the same spot, sitting on one of the plastic crates, wooden benches or daybeds at Fred’s coffee window at Fred Burton Oval, in City Beach.

It’s also the home of the West Coast Amateur Football Club and a venue for Auskick.

Over the last six weeks there has been a nostalgia and reflection that has deepened my burning conviction about how much our community sporting clubs matter, not just to Perth, and WA, but to the fabric of our country

In an era of broadcast billions, soaring salaries and talk of private ownership, our community sporting clubs remain the true architecture of Australian life: and I hope the governing bodies never lose sight of this when distributing the wealth.

Lean on the fence and talk to players, parents, club presidents, administrators and old boys, and the same words keep coming up.

Connection. Belonging. Purpose. Joy. Home.

I have seen both ends of the spectrum.

My professional life is inside the machine of elite sport, where the broadcast rights are staggering, the player payments keep climbing, and private ownership seems inevitable in the Big Bash.

At that level, sport is a remarkable, world-class business, and I love it. But it doesn’t always feel like home.

Home away from home for me, began at the Scarborough Cricket Club. It was there, as a kid, that I learned a club is not only about the sport, but also about the people.

The volunteers like Peter Mountford who scored each week. The mums making the afternoon teas, the old blokes who told the same stories and made you feel part of something bigger, and the teammates who became friends for life.

I learned to bat at Scarborough, but I also learned how to win and how to lose, how to turn up for your mates, and how a good club wraps itself around you.

Turn up to Abbett Park any Saturday afternoon during the summer and there are life members Peter Wearne, David Bloxom, Noddy Holder, Clint Heron and Co, sitting in the Peter Wearne Pavilion sipping on a cold beer and talking about the game.

This happens all around Australia, and I was reminded of it again last Saturday, when Subiaco played South Fremantle at Fremantle Oval in the WAFL.

I have been Subiaco’s number one ticket-holder for 25 years, a Subi tragic as they say. But as a boy I went to every South Fremantle game with my grandparents.

Last Saturday, with three of my best mates, we had a beer at 2pm at the Norfolk Hotel before the game, one in the clubhouse at half-time, and one more at the end. By 6.30pm I was home, and it was one of the great days.

At quarter and three-quarter time, we listened to coaches Jarrad Schofield and Craig White charging up their players. You could smell the grass as kids ran on the ground kicking their Burley footballs and eating Mr Whippy ice creams and a box of chips.

The South Fremantle old boys stood shoulder to shoulder in the stand, as did the die-hard supporters from each club.

For a moment it felt like stepping back in time, except it is not the past, it is how it is every weekend, all year round, across WA.

Just in the AFL world alone the whole ecosystem constitutes extraordinary numbers. The AFL sits at the summit; beneath it the WAFL, then community football, the Perth Football League and country footy, then the juniors, Auskick, and the inclusive Starkick.

Every weekend from April to September, around 150 matches unfold on suburban grounds.

When I asked Tim Gossage, the number one ticket holder at the Wembley Footy Club, why community clubs are so important, he summed up the sentiment of all those I spoke with this week.

He said: “You train a couple of nights a week, you can get a cheap beer and cheap food, have some fun, and be yourself. Clubs are gloriously egalitarian. In the same change room or club house you will find accountants and plumbers, heart surgeons and sparkies, all in the same jumper or shirt and all who simply love their club.”

Clubs provide connection, purpose and lifelong friends.

Yes, there is still politics and the odd bit of nonsense every now and then, but people keep stepping up. They are held together by hard-working committees, volunteers and local sponsors, usually more as supportive doners these days by parents or past players who have a quid or two to share.

The increase in women’s football has brought a whole new audience, new friendships, new energy. Everyone I spoke to told me about how good the integration of women to the clubs has been.

And then there is another layer, integrated football. The Perth Football League: Integrated division, established in 2011 with origins back to 2008, was born of a simple idea, that football should be for everyone, including people with disabilities.

And that is where the idea for this column was born. At halftime at Freo last Saturday, one of my mates was telling me about Ben Pieters and as his mates who, after a win at the North Beach FC, stand up before the whole club and sing Take Me Home, Country Roads.

“Country roads, take me home, to the place I belong.”

It’s emotional, it’s uplifting, and everyone gets behind it.

Few understand what that means better than the Pieters family. His mum, Claire, a driving force behind the club’s inclusion culture, describes North Beach FC as: “A place where Ben truly belongs. It’s not because he has special needs; it’s because he’s a valued teammate, a friend and a member of the club. He is accepted for who he is. The club embraces the integrated team and we all love that.”

The people at North Beach are not alone.

When I mentioned that ‘Country Roads’ tradition to Andrew Dawe, chief executive of the Perth Football League, he said it captured something his team heard repeatedly while writing the league’s new strategic plan.

“In many respects, football clubs have become one of the few remaining ‘third places’ in our communities, sitting alongside home and work or school, as somewhere people genuinely feel connected,” he said.

North Beach is just one example, Dawe says.

“All clubs have their own rituals that create the same feeling, a club song, a Thursday night meal, an Anzac Day fixture, old players around the bar, volunteers setting up grounds before sunrise,” he said.

“When I visit clubs each weekend, what stands out is not necessarily the football. It’s seeing grandparents, parents, players, volunteers, children and friends all gathering in the same place, connected by something bigger than the game. A place where people feel welcome. A place where they are known. A place where they belong and thrive.”

President of West Coast Amateurs Sam Birmingham made another interesting point, saying: “Today, our community clubs give us a place where you actually learn about the power of diversity, inclusion and values, not just read about it as a theory.”

Nearly 25 years ago, Nelson Mandela understood all of this. On that same night in Monaco, he spoke of the champions who stood beside him on stage, saying: “The heroes standing with me are examples of this power. They are valiant not only in the playing field, but also in the community, both local and international.”

Mandela was speaking of global icons.

But those words belong just as much to the volunteer setting up the ground before sunrise, to the 20 helpers who make one integrated team possible, to Claire and to Ben’s teammates.

They are the heroes of our own communities, and on their patch the rules of the game really are the same for everyone.

As Ben Pieters says: “Being a part of the Perth Football League: Integrated, makes me really happy. It’s a place where my family and I feel welcomed, included, and like we truly belong. I love my teammates, and I am really proud to be part of my team and this club.”

This week alone, 55,966 turned up to Optus Stadium to support the Fremantle Dockers, 52,452 to the NRL State of Origin in Brisbane and Australia has gone World Cup mad in the soccer.

A minuscule portion of those supporters who go to those epic events will ever make it to the big time themselves, but I guarantee every one of them is involved in grass roots sport somewhere.

Let’s hope this is never forgotten by the decision makers and players.