I love playing footy; for me it’s the best.

I’m out with my mates, no time for a rest;

It’s active and exciting; there’s challenge galore,

Can’t wait for the next game; I always want more.

I train really hard; that’s how it should be,

I give of my all; that’s always the key;

My prep’s always decent, my focus is good;

And winning’s important; just like it should.

I love all the atmosphere, the noise and the crowd,

The hubbub, the tension; I feel really wowed.

Though some of the people get too carried away,

Cos all I really want, is to go out and play.

It’s not the World Cup, though some won’t agree;

It’s not life or death; well, it isn’t for me.

Yes, the excitement is great, the tension is too,

But enjoyment’s the thing, for me – and for you.

‘Do this, do that,’ some of them scream,

‘Do something else,’ they shout at the team.

‘Not good enough,’ they say when something goes wrong,

But I don’t want to hear the moans of the throng.

I’m just a boy; I’m ten and a bit;

I tackle and shoot and head it and kick.

I’m not a man, or an adult or even a teen,

I’m ten and a bit; you know what I mean?

I love playing footy, but it’s not all that I do;

I enjoy all the kid things, that’s serious and true.

Be proud of me personally, for what I put in,

My effort, my attitude, they’ll both help me win.

I’m just a boy; I’m one year plus nine,

My life is unfolding, a bit at a time;

Yes, plan for the future, get ready for then,

But enjoy the today, cos it won’t come again.

So help me be good, the best I can be,

Whatever that looks like, it’s special to me;

Not just at footy, or English or maths,

But in all that I do, following all of my paths.

I don’t want obsession, or pressure or stress,

But I want you to help me, to get to my best;

To find the right balance, of enjoyment and drive,

Cos that’s the best place for progress to thrive.

I like the sand and the water, the smell of the surf,

The ice creams and bike rides, the laughs and the mirth;

The chit-chat, the banter, the jokes and the jaunts,

But not negatives or vetoes, not ridicule or taunts.

That won’t make me, or my friend down the way,

Better at anything, whatever you say;

Help me, support me, nudge me, please do;

Give me the structure that I need to get through.

Thanks for the commitment, the love and the care,

Thanks for the support and for just being there.

Yes, plan for the future, get ready for then,

But enjoy the today, ‘cos it won’t come again.

With thanks to the likes of Edgar Guest and James Ingham, who penned the original ‘I’m just a Boy’ poems. Thanks too to the legions of child psychologists, behaviouralists and sports scientists, whose multiple independent studies all say pretty much the same things. As the mouldy sausage said to the other mouldy sausage: ‘Ten thousand flies can’t possibly all be wrong.’