The vast majority of us play footy without being paid for it. We play because we want to. We play because we share a common interest with mates and family, we feel a sense of community in the clubs we are involved with and gain a sense of esteem from belonging to a group and sharing the successes and failures that come with it.
If you think about the personal circumstances of those poor long serving locals who give footy clubs thousands of dollars of value in terms of football ability and club service without being paid a cent, and without grumbling about it, you will find that the vast majority of them are successful away from football. Either that, or they are simply ‘good blokes’ who value personal relationships and mateship more than dollars. For them football is an escape from the pressures of work, it’s a time when they can be with mates, be a bit of a larrikin, take out some aggression on the training track and then reflect on the days events with a few beers afterwards.
While these loyal blokes aren’t being paid in dollars, they are being paid in memories. Don’t underestimate the value of being able to sit around the bar in 30 years time and recount the ‘good old days’ with your mates. Being able to look at the club honour board and remember each and every best and fairest winner, each mail medallist, each club president and recall stories about them all.
Now think of the reasons why a bloke would play for money. The most obvious reason and one that is often referred to on this forum is ‘to pay the bills’. This implies that what said footballer does Monday to Friday does not pay the bills. And for this reason we should feel sorry for these characters. A classic example is my old mate SS. Take this quote, made when arguing why some footballers wouldn’t risk injury by playing rep footy:
silicone skyline wrote:I'm a payed player on a low income with a mortgage to pay.
SS needs the money. He’s got a mortgage and struggles to pay it so he has to sacrifice what most of us do for fun, to earn extra dollars. Rather like a whore. Guy’s like this have to sacrifice or simply don’t value the friendships, the community spirit and camaraderie (that is the reason the majority of us play) to earn the extra dollars they need to get by.
Now sure, we are all given limited abilities in life and need to make the most of the ability we have been blessed with but my point is this: Next time you are thinking to yourself “Gee it would be nice to be getting paid a couple a pineapples for doing what I love” and “I wonder what I could get if I went down to shitter’s ditch for a couple of seasons..” stop. Take a deep breath, fill your chest with pride and think to yourself:
“I don’t need to”.
