Getting a kick out of inspiring future Suns
ST ANDREW’S Catholic College students Piper Bentley and Sophie Christoffelsz might not have had a favourite AFL team before yesterday – but they do now.
The 14-year-olds were all smiles yesterday morning when Gold Coast Suns and former Cairns Saints Caleb Graham and Jacob Heron stopped by the Redlynch school to show the kids a few tips as part of the Suns’ 2019 AFL Community Camp.
The players taught Bentley, Christoffelsz and the rest of their excited classmates basic footy skills, such as handballing and how to kick the perfect drop punt, and ran through drills to test students’ reflexes and hand-eye co-ordination.
Graham, who was selected with pick 71 in last year’s AFL draft, said it was great to return home and “give back to the community”.
Only a few years ago, the now 18-year-old said he was just like those excitable students running around the school’s sports complex.
“I remember guys coming to my school when I was young and looking up to them, so it’s good to give these kids something that I felt when I was growing up,” said Graham.
He said a message of the club’s school visits was that “anything’s possible”.
“If you put your mind to it, you can do anything,” he said.
“If you play hard and do everything right, you can definitely make it.”
But, most importantly, he said it was about having fun.
“You don’t want to not enjoy your footy,” he said. “(Having fun) is the main thing, especially (at this age), you want to enjoy your footy as much as possible.”
Heron said he had always remembered the times AFL players would turn up at games and Auskick sessions when he was a kid. “It definitely sticks with you,” he said. “To see the kids running around and have a footy in their hand is really a good thing to see.”