Henry Lawson U14s Div 4 doing it for each other
with Matt “ Duck Man ” Austin
There ’ s a lot to be said about faith and perseverance . Every kid deserves to play sport , it ’ s rich in our Aussie culture , and even though not every child is going to be a Nathan Cleary or a Lionel Messi , which shouldn ’ t stop the dream or even the pursuit of greatness .
What we need to realise is at the very foundation , sport should always be about involvement , just getting in there with your mates and just having fun .
Rod Newell is a passionate coach who has coached soccer on and off for the last seven years . He ’ s a dad that has never played the game but that hasn ’ t affected his interest or enthusiasm or giving back
Henry Lawson U14s-4s team photo . Credit : Henry Lawson FC . to the kids .
Henry Lawson is not one of the big clubs in the area and like most they rely heavily on small business sponsorship and the community volunteer element to keep ticking over . This Henry Lawson U14 ’ s group have played together for the last eight years , with more joining as each year rolled on . Whilst the team grew the wins didn ’ t but the winning team is now taking shape .
The team were not the most skilled , and unfortunately in the formative years the coaching philosophy was aimed more at two standout players as opposed to the team itself . Over the last three years though they have become a family with a winning culture .
Success wasn ’ t built on wins , it was built on mateship and playing with your mates each week .
It grew from not only the boys with the jerseys but what they call the greater team , led by the coach and manager all the mums and dads , brothers , sisters , aunts , uncles , grandparents etc - they became a soccer family .
Every family supports the team not just the child , think countless sleepovers , impromptu dinners , social get togethers . The playing group became very tight as they won together and lost together ,
and they went from being regular losers to becoming highly competitive in the right division .
They turned it around in the new 4th division comp and the coaches met one cold Wednesday evening for training , got the boys together on the halfway line , and Rod and his two assistants ( other dads ) told them they could go one of two ways from here , it was up them how they got coached .
They could take a big step forward , play and potentially win the comp or they could go backwards and just play for fun . With the exception of three players they all took a big step … backwards .
The message was loud and clear , the club culture was about having fun . The coaches were a bit deflated as they could see something special in them and wanted the players to see that after all the years of losing they could perhaps win .
This quickly turned to pride as they looked at the boys enjoying just kicking a ball around with their mates , the basis of what sport should be about .
U14s-4s getting ready for their last match .
After many washouts and one game at Wentworth Falls one Monday evening at two degrees the boys finished the year in 5th position .
Their next three weeks in the Round Robin will help the boys win their way into a much-deserved Grand Final showdown with Blue Mountains FC .
The side are very confident of a win after two draws against their fancied opposition , but the outcome really doesn ’ t matter whether they win , lose or draw as the team are already winners . They showed us all that on that Wednesday night at training in early June with that big backwards step that propelled them into Saturday ’ s Grand Final .
Scott Morris bringing joy to people playing sports
with Matt “ Duck Man ” Austin
The professional world of sports photography today is a big one , particularly sport in action .
Action sports photography has been a big-ticket item of sports since post COVID . Once upon a time you would find a couple of parents , or people at a club , who would take some photos of kids going out there playing sports and doing their best . Now there are a lot of professional people out there plying their trade in the sports action photography space .
Scott Morris is one of these incredibly talented people with an eye for capturing brilliant action photos that are professional quality and up there with the standard you see produced on footy cards and professional magazines .
Scott ’ s sports journey is similar to others who got involved in sports as a young kid ; he was a passionate Western Suburbs Magpies ’ supporter back in the NSW rugby league . His earliest football memory was the 1981 Grand Final between Parramatta and Newtown . The
Credit : Scott Morris Photography .
Magpies didn ’ t have a lot of success on the field but , Scott was still a proud Magpies supporter .
Scott said taking up photography has given him renewed vigour and purpose after losing his parents a few years back . He wanted to bring joy to other people and get photos of their children , and even the A grade men ’ s and women ’ s players plying their trade on the sporting ovals across NSW .
He has found his niche on the sporting ovals of the Panthers Junior rugby league competition , and a lot of his photography is to provide players and parents with some professional quality photography for memorabilia . He has a full-time job , is not motivated by money and gives a lot of photos away .
Scott is thankful to have built some good relationships in the world of footy and reached the heights of NSW rugby league ’ s Ron Massey Cup . But the games that bring the most joy are the U6s and U8s kids getting out and playing for fun in the local community .
“ I want to give back to the community who have given so
Cambo getting a 44-40 golden point extra time win vs Brothers . Credit : Scott Morris Photography .
much that I am thankful for ,” Scott said about his involvement in local sport .
His favourite Magpie growing up was the champion halfback Trevor Cogger . These days he really enjoys watching star players in the NRL such as Liam Martin for the Panthers who rips in and plays with plenty of aggression .
In the local rugby league , Scott likes watching Cambridge Park ’ s big centre Marli Sini , there is always something happening when he gets the ball in his hands .
These days Scott has jumped on board with the Panthers . He was born and bred in St Marys with his family stretching back
to the . His grandfather won a C grade competition with St Marys in 1932 .
Scott ’ s goal is to keep doing all the good work in the world of sports photography . Each year he becomes increasingly well known . Scott is hoping to get into the world of summer sports action photography as well during the rugby league off season .
He really wants to be involved in the women ’ s rugby league as he sees how big it can be and how rapidly it will grow over the next five to ten years .
Scott definitely has his finger on the pulse and an eye for a magical sports action photo .
36 ISSUE 172 // SEPTEMBER 2024 theindependentmagazine . com . au THE HAWKESBURY INDEPENDENT