If it’s Wednesday in the winter, Peter Keath is going to be talking footy at work. A lot.
“I like training day,” he says. “Yeah, we got good players.”
Working alongside Keath as he scrubs a car clean is teammate Tyler Wilson. By now, he’s used to the conversation that goes on throughout the day as footy training approaches.
“What are we doing tonight, Tyler? Are we going to kick some goals tonight? Hang out with mates?”
Both men play for the Echuca Moama Rockets, an Aussie rules footy team for players with intellectual disability.
They’re part of a disability service provider work crew in Kyabram, in northern central Victoria.
Even after work, on the half-hour drive to Echuca-Moama on the Victorian-New South Wales border, the footy talk doesn’t stop.
“Tonight, will we have a good training day?” Keath asks.
“We’ll have a good training day,” Wilson agrees.
The Rockets were born 12 years ago. Local footy coach Mark McGann — known to all as Cheezel for his red hair — noticed a group of players on their own at the oval. He had questions.
“Why are they … pushed across the other side of the ground? And why [aren’t] there more people being involved in helping these people out?”
Working with team manager Suellen Betts, mother of one of the original Rockets, the all-abilities team quickly started to build momentum.
“One great thing about Aussie rules football is that it can be played by virtually anyone … no matter what their size, weight, whatever,” McGann said.
“When I saw this, I thought, ‘Well, it’s definitely applied to this as well’.”
The Rockets cover a wide spectrum of ages, and the team is mixed with women playing alongside men.
Friends Kellie McIntosh and Jessica Olle have bonded while playing footy.
“It gives you energy, running around and catching the ball … it’s good,” Olle said.
Rockets players live with different levels of intellectual disability — something coach Graeme Glanville has learned to take into account.
“The biggest challenge, I think, is working out the right way to talk to the individual players,” Glanville said.
Glanville’s been coaching the Rockets for about five years. Like many of those involved with the team, he has a personal connection. He son plays for the Rockets.
“I just love it. I love watching them get out there and get a smile and get near the football and enjoy themselves,” Glanville said.
During games, the priority is not so much the score, as it is the experience for the players.
“Some of ’em are full-on footballers that are brilliant at it … and others, they’re not an athlete really at all,” Glanville said.
“We try to accommodate everyone. It’s all-ability. So, even if we gotta carry you around out there, we’ll figure out a way to get you a kick.”
The Rockets play in the Victorian Football Integration Development Association, a competition for players with an intellectual disability.
About every three or four weeks, a series of games are scheduled on a weekend in different regional towns.
Rockets’ players and their families get to experience something most Australians take for granted.
“They can have a typical day of footy, just like everybody else,” Betts explained.
“Mum and dad can go to the footy, watch their child play, just like a regular family. So, that’s all you want in life, really.
“Some of these parents have never thought their child would play footy [or] would have a day of travelling around the countryside supporting them.”
Wilson’s parents have seen him blossom during his time with the Rockets. He’s gone from being painfully shy and quiet, to forming friendships with his teammates.
“He’s really out of his shell now. It’s great,” Gary Wilson said.
“It gets us out of the house. And we love supporting, not just Tyler, but all of them. They’re a great bunch of guys and girls,” Elaine Wilson said.
Over the years, the Rockets have become a familiar part of the Echuca-Moama sports scene. There are close connections with Echuca United, the town’s other footy team. Many Rockets players help out during their games.
And, like Keath and Wilson, many Rockets players are part of supported work crews run by disability service provider Vivid.
Over the years, Vivid chief executive Scott Alexander has witnessed the impact that being part of a team has had on the men and women who play for the Rockets.
“If I was to pinpoint one thing, it’s that growth in self-belief, confidence and social interaction. It’s very healthy,” Alexander said.
For those who make this team go — the coaches, the managers, the families — it’s a major commitment. Hours spent setting up and running training, fundraising and organising travel to games.
But they wouldn’t trade it for a second.
“It brings great joy, not just to these guys and girls wanting to play a game of football, but to everyone that’s involved,” McGann said.
“The satisfaction of watching these smiles on these faces, not just on the players, but even on the parents and the carers on the sidelines … it’s a great, great thing to be involved in.”
Source: AFL NEWS ABC
