Find Ya Feet

It’s quite common that we forget about the things we have endured. Maybe there are one or two things that remain in our memory, but more often than not I’d say that once the pain of enduring something hard has subsided, the memory is filed away in our subconscious.

Maybe we never think of it again.

Maybe it resurfaces through a trigger years later.

Last night I was fortunate enough to be present at a workshop held for the team I train at the Cronulla Sharks Rugby League Football Club.

The workshop was presented by a lad named Tommy from Find Ya Feet.

I’d seen and heard about Tommy’s work through social media for some time and always thought what a great initiative it was working with and inspiring young men to take ownership and action on their stories and who they are.

The night went well and we were learning a lot about each other through a well constructed presentation that encouraged participation and contribution without requiring the boys to say much. The coaching staff were also involved and it was inspiring and eye opening to learn about some of the things that they deal with as well.

As the presentation progressed it got to a point where the floor was opened for individuals to stand up and speak about their story.

One of the lads stood and spoke about how amazing his parents were in his childhood. How he was always given the absolute best from his parents and never went without.

He went on to share however, that he lived with his mum, dad and brother in a one bedroom apartment and that he and his brother got the bed while his parents slept in the living room. He continued and spoke about how he and his brother noticed often that at dinner his parents weren’t eating. They just sat quietly having a cup of tea.

Supposedly they had been provided dinner at work earlier that day.

As the story progressed I could feel where it was going and felt my eyes well with tears as I saw the young lad choking back tears of his own.

I looked around the room to see many of the young 17 and 18 year old boys, tough and rugged football players showing emotion hearing his story.

The speaker continued to say that same night after he and his brother had been put to bed, he got up a short while later to go to the bathroom and overheard his mother and father speaking on the balcony. They were speaking about how long it had been since they had eaten and this young lad heard his father reinforce that it will all be worth it.

This lad travels via bus and train for hours to and from training often getting home at 11pm because he is so driven to make it and repay his parents.

This was an incredibly powerful story and a special moment for the team and for myself.

For me, behind tears I began to reflect on a lot of events that had lead me to be in that room over a period of 20 years.

In particular I thought about what my parents had done for me, and what I was doing and not doing for my son.

I thought about 18 years ago when I retired from playing myself and my mum saw how much I was hurting having to give up the game I loved through injury, so she suggested I volunteer with a team at my club as a trainer.

18 years later I was now sitting in a room being inspired by young individuals who are the same age I was when I stopped playing, hearing their stories of hardship and what they had endured.

What was painful for me though was only 3 years after my mum had encouraged me to stay involved in the game, she passed away from cancer at age 48, fifteen years ago.

I was 21 years old.

I didn’t have an opportunity to share my own story with the boys last night as it was more important for them to be given the space to break down barriers and be vulnerable at an age where vulnerability is often viewed as weakness.

But being there surrounded by courage helped to empower me to overcome my own hardships.

They inspired me to find my feet and I’m looking forward to connecting with not only the lads in my team further, but with my friends and family too.

We’ve all got stories but together through the power of vulnerability we can all inspire each other to find our feet.