Some view playing sport for a club as something you participate in when you’re young.
But for 46-year-old Terry Walker, football has always been a part of his life.
On Saturday 31 May, Mr Walker stepped onto the Powelltown Football Ground and broke through the milestone banner celebrating his achievement of a whopping 400 games played over his career.
He played the game alongside those closest to him – seven other members of the Walker family were on the team’s lineup, including his son, four brothers and one cousin.
In his career, Mr Walker had played 350 games at Warburton Millgrove Football Netball Club, but moved to Powelltown with the hopes of sharing the field with his son, Tyson.
“It was an unbelievable day, it was unreal, it was a once in a lifetime opportunity,” Mr Walker said.
“I played all my lifetime at Warby, won six senior best and fairest awards for Warburton and then just went out to finish my career at Powelltown to play with my son.
“I just wanted to play a few games with me son and actually got to play a senior game, and it was good to see us all play together in the same team and have a win together.”
Powelltown faced Yarra Glen and made easy work of the River Pigs as they won 99 to 58, with the Walker septet sharing four goals between them.
Look beyond the recent match, and Mr Walker’s 400 game career wove a common thread of community, dedication and tradition.
He said he’d never considered playing for other clubs out of the region as he was surrounded by family and friends in the Upper Yarra area.
“I’ve always played local, I started around my family and friends and, yeah, always just been a local footballer.”
For Mr Walker, the Outer East Football Netball League was a pillar of community and it brought families together.
The league combines football and netball competitions to run on similar schedules at the same grounds, turning weekends into days where families all gather at the same sporting grounds to watch their children play.
“The Outer East leagues, I reckon it’s changed a lot over the years, it used to be just all about football, but now they’ve introduced netball as well, so it makes it sort of a family day.”
Mr Walker also said club volunteers played a crucial role in running the league behind the scenes.
“All the people around the club, the volunteers and all that, you really appreciate it more towards the end of your career when you realise how much work they actually do.”
“I only go out and play the game, but to see our runners and trainers and the volunteer work they do all for nothing, it just makes it all more worthwhile.”
When Mr Walker and his son Tyson shared the field on Saturday against Yarra Glen, there was an onlooker from the crowd who knew the game and the community better than anyone there.
It was Mr Walker’s father and lifetime Powelltown Football Club member, Robert Walker.
With three generations of the Walker’s football players gathered in the same place, it’s safe to say that football runs in the family’s blood.
