Jack-of-all trades Daniel Stanton has been passionate about AFL for many years now and there’s no telling where he might bob up next in the Sydney AFL landscape.
Daniel is a former President and life member of the Southern Power, a Sydney AFL umpire with more than 100 games under his belt, AFL 9’s umpire, former Sydney South Juniors representative coach and former Premier League player with Balmain.
His passion for AFL in Sydney is unquestioned and after capturing a premiership with Southern Power in 2011, he decided to hang up the boots and focus on umpiring this year.
The 2011 SWAFL Golden Whistle recipient said he decided to dedicate his time to women’s AFL and help the game grow during the transition from SWAFL to Sydney AFL.
"I started ultra-marathon running this year as well and didn’t want to risk injury by playing – umpiring allowed me to stay involved in the game without copping the knocks," Daniel said.
"Despite my self-promises not to play, the Power boys were short a few times and I ended up playing three games this year. It always gives you goosebumps getting your hands on a Sherrin and running around with your mates on the paddock."
The UTS Shamrocks also sent out an S.O.S. to Daniel this season and he found himself as their head coach from Round 5 onwards.
"It definitely wasn’t in the plan at all and I don’t know how an aspiring coach would not want to mentor such an enthusiastic and passionate group of girls," Daniel said.
"I went down to help them out with a few drills one night and the ground was closed but we trained on a small patch of grass under dim lights – and I was hooked.
"The team had a vast amount of rookies and were undeterred by the results on the field. They kept turning up at training in good numbers and wanted to learn.
"After six rounds we had scored 30 points and conceded 660, but the girls were unfazed at all and continued to show up and put in the work."
The results eventually came and the Shamrocks won three games before the season ended and held every team they played through the final seven rounds to 12 goals or less.
"This team has tremendous upside and it was a privilege to coach them this year," Daniel said.
"When you’re getting flogged by 150 every week but getting 15-20 at training, you know you have a special group of players – and they got better and better as the season went along.
"We were also lucky enough to play at ANZ Stadium twice! Once as a curtain raiser to the Swans v Giants game against Auburn and recently in an AFL 9’s demonstration game at half time of the Swans v Pies contest."
Daniel’s passion for AFL is one of the drivers of his ultra-marathon endeavours. In four weeks from now, he will be competing in the Glasshouse 100 – a 160km mountainous run that he expects to finish in under 30 hours.
The other driver for completing this run is raising money for the NSW/ACT AFL’s charity partner, Youth Off The Streets.
"I am training to be a team leader for the Youth Off The Streets Food Van and if I can raise $500, that should be enough for petrol and food for a month," Daniel said.
Daniel’s fundraising page can be found at: www.everydayhero.com.au/ultra_marathon_dan
Last Modified on 06/09/2012 17:59
