Sporting chance vital

JUST LOOK WHAT COWBOYS CO-CAPTAIN JOHNATHAN THURSTON IS DOING FOR NOT ONLY INDIGENOUS KIDS BUT ALL YOUTH REGARDLESS OF COLOUR OR BACKGROUND. HE’S SHOWING WHAT HARD WORK CAN DO.

Bobette Erickson was all class. It was the very early eighties and I had just started to play golf. Mrs Erickson was a mature woman, on the committee of my small regional Queensland golf club. She had the manners of an English rose but a competitiveness on course that rivalled any A-grader even though she never made it out of B-grade. And while she was without question a lady from a bygone era, she loved a cold beer after play. To me she was a real woman and when I think back on my more than 30 years of strolling fairways, I often think of her and how she was a role model without even trying. Sport has offered up many of them for me through life’s journey along with many lessons. This week’s Streets to Sport motivation run through the Msuburbs was a winner. Ordinary people committed to doing something extraord- inary. The clubs and individuals involved are taking themselves off the sidelines and getting in the game to tackle a social issue head-on.

I’m betting there will be many a troubled juvenile who will benefit in the long run.

You can’t underestimate what sport can do for a person. Just look what Cowboys co-captain Johnathan Thurston is doing for not only indigenous kids but all youth regardless of colour or background. He’s showing what hard work can do and that pride and respect are basic human necessities.

While debate in Cairns has centred on punishment for young offenders, the run on Thursday night swung the spotlight on to prevention.

Yarrabah State School student Yasserie Kyle-Smith summed up with raw honesty what sport meant to him. “I feel like I’m not alone,” he said. Sport can be powerful, rewarding and insightful.

Here’s a few things it’s taught me. Both winning and losing count: Winning isn’t everything but it’s healthy to try, and success tastes pretty good too. Setting a goal and achieving it is a life skill. Losing can hurt but how you deal with it is almost as important as dealing with success. Sometimes it’s more so.

Relationships: Whether it’s teammates or club members, sport teaches you how to interact with all sorts of characters. Some of the biggest influencers and best friends I’ve ever known have come from sport. I’ve also met and played against a lot of “unique” characters who have built mine. It’s fun and it’s healthy: You can add “frustrating” to this when it comes to golf but when I’m out walking in the sunshine (or rain when I’m really desperate to escape) belting a white ball, everything else fades away. It’s my happy place. Fear is just courage turned inside out: Whether it’s a short putt to win a tournament or you’re under peer group pressure to steal a car — stare down your fear and walk away a winner.