In a junior team of any code, a lot of sacrifice is required.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Sacrifice from the kids to put in the work at training and to listen to their coaches, managers and parents along the way. Then there is sacrifice from the coaches themselves.
Hundreds of hours are put in out of their own personal time all with the one goal of making their players not only better players, but better people as well.
These combinations were the formula for the success of Balgownie's U-14 State Cup champions.
Led by former Stingrays NPL coach Earle Canvin, the 'Bally' juniors took the state by storm.
Always more than competitive in the 'Champions of Champions' competition - where they fell just short in 2022 - the juniors took out Football NSW's State Cup following a 3-0 win against Quakers Hill Tigers thanks to goals from Jacob Donev, Ben Garbutt and Oscar Holden Kim.
Coach Canvin praised the team, their parents and his in particular his manager Paul Lynam who he said "puts in a lot of effort" for him to be able to just focus on coaching.
He said the environment around the team and the club is something he never thought he would experience in his coaching career again.
"I was happily retired from coaching. I'd lost my love for the game to be honest," he said.
"The technical director from Balgownie said for me to come and have a look at these 11 year old boys a few years back and now here I am. For me, coaching is about a football experience. It's about teaching them to be good footballers but most importantly better people. The compliments that we get from teams from Sydney about how we play is brilliant.
"These boys renewed my love for the game."
Between team manager Lynam, president John Kampen and parent and club committee member Hayley Buckley, it truly was a team effort.
Kampen said it was a historic day for the club when they took out the final in Manly.
"The club was so proud of that team. This has been coming for a long time," the president said.
"They're a gun side. They're coached very well by Earle. He's got a lot of football experience. And most importantly they're a good group of kids who listen to him and understand him. They're just a great bunch of kids that play really great football."
A team simply cannot be run without a manager and a bunch of parents who know what they are doing.
That is the case with Lynam and Buckley.
The latter said she may have to quit her day job to become a private investigator following her detective work in the lead up to the final.
"Basically I was doing a bit of research for some insight [on Quakers Hill]," she said.
As a parent, she said it was a sensational moment to watch the team lift the Cup.
"It's awesome. You don't really feel tired or any fatigue from all the driving when you see results like that. That all goes. But it's good fun going to another parts of NSW that you probably wouldn't normally go to," she added.
"It's very rewarding."
Team manager Lynam said it was an impressive performance on the day.
"We were missing a key player who was overseas and then the early start was tough for the boys," he said.
"But the boys are used to it now they've done it a fair bit. That performance in the second half in particular was outstanding."
He added that the best part about the team was the culture that had been set.
"Everyone enjoys it and the team and the parents are a good tight knit group," Lynam said.
With these kids just 13 and 14 years of age, the sky is the limit for all of them. Don't be surprised to see them running around for the Wolves or even in the A-League in the future.
Jordan Warren
Illawarra Mercury sports journalist. Feel free to get in touch jordan.warren@austcommunitymedia.com.au.
Illawarra Mercury sports journalist. Feel free to get in touch jordan.warren@austcommunitymedia.com.au.
