Last year in the peak of my football career, I was struck down with an untreatable foot condition. I had to retire from the game that I’ve spent my whole life playing, which I am still really upset about. However, if I had kept playing I would have done so much damage to my feet that there was the possibility that I would never be able to walk properly again. So as you can imagine, I had to make the tough decision to retire from the game that I love.

Ever since my retirement I have been spending my time split between volunteering at sports clubs and doing foot care treatments. Cheltenham is where I’ve chosen to volunteer based on its proximity to the podiatrist, so that on any given day I can easily travel between the two. 

I always wear a brave face at the sports clubs and podiatrist. Excluding my close family, no one knows just how devastated I am not to be playing footy. Instead I tell people that I love and miss the game, but I’m also loving teaching the next generation of sports stars and looking after my body. Of course this is a lie, but no one really cares how people feel beyond what they present as truth. 

Devastating, my achilles tendinitis will never get better. Even after a year of foot care treatments and looking after myself, it was too little too late. Sometimes my wife asks me if I would have rather never to have played footy if it meant I wouldn’t have to suffer through this, but my answer is an overwhelming no. 

I do not regret my decision to play football at a professional level. It bought me fame, money and popularity. It gave me brothers and people who I will be lifelong friends with. I’ve been absolutely ripped off in terms of the length of my career, seeing as I had so many more years left in me, but I don’t regret the years I played.

 

Here’s a question I find myself pondering for too often: what is socially acceptable to use as a bookmark? The answer seems pretty straight forward, a designated bookmark. Potentially other pieces of paper. Your phone (assuming you’re cool enough to have a slim smartphone). Probably shouldn’t use your phone as a bookmark for long, might be a fire hazard. Could you use another book? I admit, I’ve done it more than once, put another book in my book just to save my place. Bare with here, it gets a bit crazier. Up until this point, it’s been pretty regularly everyday items, but now I’m unleashing the big guns. For example, is it okay to use Lorne travel brochures as a bookmark even if it’s just temporarily?

I’ve been thinking about taking a trip along the great ocean road for some time and have been narrowing down my choices for Lorne luxury accomodation. I’ve been keeping the travel brochures in my book to keep me excited for the trip. Although this did spurn my currently line of thought about practically of bookmarks.

Is it okay to use your passport as a bookmark? Just a quick reminder that you can go anywhere at any time with a passport. It’s early to forget that you don’t owe anyone anything. You can wake up one morning, pack your bags and up and leave for a weekend in Lorne without telling anyone. That and it’s good to use as a bookmark anyway.

Let me set up a scenario, it’s four in the morning, you have class in three hours, you’re still awake and the only thing in arms reach is your brochures for Lorne hotels. You start to think about skipping class and taking a road trip down the great ocean road. Not that that’s ever happened to me, I would never skip class to go surfing. I’m a model student, as far as my parents know anyway.