FEW footballers plan on playing senior football into their 50s but Taylors Lake’s John Kelly has embraced the challenge.
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“I’m easily the oldest on the playing list at the moment – even the umpires are young compared to me,” he said.
Kelly has had a couple of stints with Taylors Lake – he joined as assistant coach in 1993 and was senior coach in 1995. He then had a break from the club.
“I hadn’t been there for a while but my wife Kristy joined the club in 2016 and I was watching a bit of netball and football,” he said.
“Then in 2017 I started helping when they lost so many players. My plan wasn’t to be playing football but then when you’re a bit short of players the first week it rolls on from there, so I’ve played every week this season.
“I don’t know if I show up the younger guys but football is a very good leveller. You have people from all sorts of backgrounds and there is some great banter.”
Kelly has played two senior games so far this season and the rest in reserves. He is an ambulance driver and said running out on the weekend helps him mentally.
“It’s a win-win – I was able to help out the club and then mentally for myself with what I do it’s very great for that,” he said.
“Socially it’s a fantastic club to be at. Mentally it’s fantastic but physically it’s a challenge for the next few days. I need to take it seriously to make sure I don’t break any bones.”
Kelly started his junior football in under-13s with Homers and then at Murtoa in under-16s and seniors. He then moved to the Ballarat Football League.
“I was at North Ballarat for a year before my ambulance training and the league was very strong with a lot of ex-VFL footballers in that year,” Kelly said.
“The disappointing thing about that year was I missed the interleague game against the Wimemra league with injury and I missed finals with pneumonia. I would have known more people on the Wimmera opposition in the interleague game than on the Ballarat team.”
Kelly said his aim now was to help develop juniors at Taylors Lake and ensure there were enough players coming through the junior ranks.
“In country footy the most important thing is maintaining the juniors,” he said.
“We are developing players now out at Taylors Lake and you still need to have fun. The results on the field aren’t always the most important thing. Jye Smith is a really good coach and understands the different personalities of a football club.”
Kelly isn’t making too many long-term plans for his football career, and said he was happy to do whatever the coaches wanted.
“I play wherever the coaches tell me to – the club has accepted an older player very well,” he said.
Kelly said Taylors Lake was always looking for more junior players, especially in the under-17s, and encouraged anyone keen for a game to get in touch with the club.
