One of the under-8 Maroochydore Roos teams in Queensland has a distinct Shepparton presence, with a trio of former high school teammates now watching their sons play together on the other side of the country.
Travis Barnes, Kristian Mahony and Matt Elliott graduated from Shepparton High School in 1996 - having played in an under-14 grand final together during their time there - and all found their way to the Sunshine State in the decade that followed.
Now, their respective sons Paddy, Ryan and Reeve don the Roos’ colours together while the trio watches on - retelling their own football stories along the way.
“I moved up here in 2002, Kristian in about 2004 and Matt wouldn't have been too long after that,” Barnes said.
“Kristian and myself are co-coaches, our kids are at the same primary school. Matt's young boy is a year younger but when we saw his name on the squad list we thought it would be great to get him involved in our team - there's four under-8 teams at Maroochydore at the moment.”
Barnes said the region's attitude to Aussie Rules had changed dramatically in the time he had been up north.
“It is a lot different from when we first moved up,” he said.
“It was all rugby league and AFL was only a blip on the radar really.
“But Maroochydore has about 300 juniors this year and the senior team is in the QAFL, so it's pretty big now.
“The Roos have a great facility with three ovals and another on the way, and you see four or five AFL clubs up here on the Sunshine Coast every summer doing pre-season which is exciting too.”
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