My father introduced me to sport when I was only six years of age.
I was just a plugger at first and it took a lot of encouragement for me to keep turning up for rugby practice and the Saturday morning belting at Willoughby Oval in Sydney.
With Dad’s support and the guidance of many dedicated coaches my love of athletics and rugby blossomed to where it because a passion.
I became even further entrenched in sport as a young journalist where my love for all codes saw me cover everything from NRL grand-finals to the Commonwealth Games in Canada and World Cup League matches in England.
While I love the big stage I also love going along to watch junior sport.
I enjoy watching the parent’s cheering on the sidelines and the kids celebrating when they finally score or even make a tackle.
You see the youngsters chance a glance off the court to see if mum or dad caught that moment so they might be able to relive it in the car on the way home.
I occasionally get along to watch a young relative play junior sport, but my visits to the suburban sports fields are rare.
On Saturday I went along to the WestMAC outside basketball court to watch a dedicated 12 year old named Mia Kertesz play before interviewing her for a story.
She is a little person who has a passionate inner-drive for all sports.
Her passion has recently seen her selected to represent Australia at the 2023 World Dwarf Games in Germany.
Trying to get a few words off her about the achievement was as difficult as it was for opponents on the court to take the ball off her.
But she didn’t need to say much to me.
I saw all I needed to know about Mia as she played alongside her much taller teammates in the searing heat.
Maybe as a player she is restricted to contributing as much as she’d like, but as a team member she is an inspiration to every child who is fortunate enough to play alongside her.
