ANDREW HAMILTON | THE COURIER MAIL | 15 JUNE 2013
They call Ross Savill the Pied Piper.
The shrill blast of his whistle sends a stampede of skinny little legs pumping across the turf of Toowoomba's Baker Street oval.
There is momentary chaos then control, as 100-odd beaming faces, more than half of them Sudanese, gaze up at Savill.
We knew what to expect after being told about the University Cougars club which has 55 Sudanese kids scattered through the junior grades.
Still, it was disorienting. The four posts of our indigenous game, the iconic Sherrins, and chasing after them hordes of young Africans.
In a few captivating minutes we watched nin-year-old Patrick Aleer flying fearlessly into a contest and pulling up lame from the heavy collision.
As he gingerly walked past he muttered "corkie" with the serious demeanour of any athlete who fears he may face a week on the sidelines. But then a long-high ball came in and Patrick's best mate Izaac looked like getting an easy possession. The injury was instantly forgotten as Patrick, all 50kg of him, dived back into the fray.
For a couple of hours a week Patrick and Izaac are no different to the kids they share classrooms with, they are just mad keen young footballers.
Savill, two-time Auskick volunteer of the year and the recipient of an OBE in 2010, has made this all happen.
When he looks back at how this flourishing program, which is now starting to pump a few players into the senior ranks, most notably giant ruckman Manylok Malek, he shakes his head in wonder.
"I'd like to say there was some kind of master plan but there wasn't, it just kind of eventuated," Ross said.
In 2005, Savill suddenly found himself drawn into a sport that had barely crossed his radar. It started when his son Jackson, after catching the bug at an Auskick program at the Rangeville State School, asked dad if he could give club footy a go.
Ross dutifully took him down to the Cougars but instead of ducking off, he decided to hang around and watch.
Savill coached Jackson's under-10 and under-11 sides for the next two years before he was asked in 2007 to go down to the younger grades and spark up some interest.
Club president Kelli Bolton says in 2007 there were just 10 players signed up for the under-8s and under-10s. Now the Cougars have 103 juniors and in addition to the large Sudanese contingent, there are five Irishman, seven of Aboriginal or Torres Strait heritage and 21 girls, many from Sudan.
"It has been remarkable. Ross is like the Pied Piper," Bolton said.
But Ross is at pains to point out that it is a team effort from a tightly knit football community. The explosion in the club's numbers came through the arrival of the Sudanese and it was the Pied Piper who dragged them along. Ross had spoteed a kid kicking a footy at the youth group he runs at Humeridge Chruch. It turned out the kid wanted to give an Australian game a go.
Ross delivered a quick pitch on the merits of AFL and offered to pick him up for training later in the week.
When he arrived, the lad had two mates with him. The next week, two more came along. Soon Ross had to ring around to find extra parents to help ferry the new arrivals.
Now they need a bus.
Last Modified on 02/07/2013 10:49
