Ducks and Kangaroos

An email arrived in our inbox this week from a brilliant coach at Langwarrin Footy Club. Reading his words sent us straight back to our earliest memories of team culture through sport, the journey of figuring out who you are through play, and what it means to be part of something bigger than yourself.

Remember The Mighty Ducks?

Few movies capture that journey better than this cult classic. And if you cast your mind back to the nineties (or fancy a nostalgia watch this weekend), you’ll (re)discover that it was never just about the hockey.

One of our favourite moments in the film comes when young Charlie Conway stands at the penalty stripe with the game on the line. Coach Bombay could have piled on the pressure. He himself had been in that exact spot as a kid, and his own coach had told him he’d let the whole team down if he missed. Instead, Bombay first advocates for Charlie in front of the entire team, then pulls him aside for a quieter moment:

“You may make it, you may not, but that doesn’t matter. What matters is that we’re here. I believe in you. Win or lose.”

It’s a moment that captures the hero’s journey this coach goes on across the trilogy, from someone who only cared about the scoreboard to a leader who understands that how you play, and who you become in the process, is the whole point.

Now, what makes things so exciting for the Langwarrin under-17s is that their coach isn’t simply following Bombay’s lead. He’s already ahead of the game and leaning into that I to We mindset from the first bounce the rooms.

Before this season’s first bounce, Brad sent his players a survey. Not to assess their ability, but to ask them what standards they wanted to set for themselves, and what they were each willing to commit to if change was needed.

“We spent a few minutes unpacking the survey results, agreed on some standards (rather than expectations) then invited the parents in to share more broadly about what my goals and hopes were for the year.”

Then came their recent jumper presentation night. Each of the twenty-four players received a copy of Where The Light Gets In and a highlighter. The jury is still out on how thrilled a group of sixteen and seventeen-year-old boys are about being handed a book to read, but we certainly are 😉

That’s exactly why this book exists — to help people of any age find their way from fearful to playful, from fitting in to truly belonging.

Perhaps best thing of all is what Brad has committed to saying at the close of every pre and post-game address this season: I love watching you play. No matter what.

This is what it looks like to put the human-being before the human-doing. It’s not to say that kicking goals doesn’t matter, this is a team like any other that wants to win.

But these words can remind an entire club that they have permission to play freely, to explore their potential, and be part of something that means far more than a premiership.

The best teams build their culture through storytelling, belonging and trust. The Langwarrin Kangaroos are already on their way, we look forward to watching their season unfold!