By Jed Lanyon
Woori Yallock Junior Football Club under 16s honoured the life of Will Grace in their round 12 match against Seville on Sunday 14 July.
Woori Yallock (19.19. 133) defeated Seville (1.2. 8) by 125 points, and Angus Hubbard was awarded the Will Grace Memorial Trophy by the Grace family for being judged the most courageous player.
Will Grace lost his life at the age of 16 after travelling in the back of a ute which rolled over in Gladysdale in 2017.
Woori Yallock players wore black armbands to honour Will and yellow armbands to acknowledge Road Trauma Support Services, a fitting tribute that matched the club colours of the Tigers.
Will’s parents Donna and Craig spoke to the Mail on 11 July, what would have been Will’s 19th birthday.
Ms Grace said that she celebrated Will’s birthday by cooking some of his favourite foods for family and friends.
Will was the fourth generation of the Grace family to have played for Woori Yallock over the years, but Donna and Craig find it difficult to come along to watch games now after their tragic loss.
“For us it’s hard to even come and watch. We’ll get back into it eventually but at the moment it’s not much fun for us to come and watch the footy like it used to be,” Mr Grace said.
Ms Grace said that they would still try and look for Will when she sees the team play.
“His great-grandfather, his pop and his dad all played here, so this was his home, this is where he belongs,” Ms Grace said.
“William and his friends were the next generation coming through, so we would watch him enjoy the spirit of the club like we did.”
Mr Grace described Woori Yallock as a good family oriented club and Ms Grace said that some of Will’s friends still reach out to his younger sister for support.
“Will’s mates that still play for the club are in contact with Amber and regularly check in on her to make sure she’s going okay.”
Ms Grace went through training and is now a volunteer for Road Trauma Support Services, an organisation that contributes to the safety and wellbeing of road users and offers counselling and support.
She said that she one day hopes to muster the courage to spread awareness for the cause by speaking to others at schools or public events about how her family has been impacted by road trauma.
“They got in contact with us as a family to show their support… And we went to a few events and walks, like the Shine a Light on Road Safety, which is a big event that they hold every year.
“I felt like I needed to do something.”
The club held raffles to raise money for Road Trauma Support Services.
Mr Grace described the footy club as another home for their family.
“We had William’s wake here, the footy club has done a whole lot for us.”
The Grace family received a frame of one of Will’s jumpers and another one hangs up in the Woori Yallock Football Netball Club pavilion alongside the club’s premiership flags, honour boards and other memorabilia.
