THERE’S A SPECIAL moment in mid-February when the grass at our local park is so smooth, tended so carefully, that it’s almost like a skating rink. Well watered, well fed, well mown. The park has been empty most of the summer, but that day, when the park comes alive, you know winter is coming – such as winter is in Sydney – and winter means football. Not professional football with its million-dollar packages and broadcast rights. Not football as something you watch. Football as it’s meant to be. Football as something you do.

Each winter, there will be close to two thousand children, teenagers and adults playing on this park for our local club. I’ve been here as a coach for our team, first when they were under-6s and then as the kids have grown year by year into the 7s, 8s, 9s, 10s and 11s.