Paul Kemmis was recently awarded life membership of the Strathalbyn Strikers Soccer Club, recognising his contribution to the sport and the club.
Paul spent much of his early life in Romsey, Hampshire, where he began playing football at the age of nine.
Having lived in Adelaide until he was six, he later returned to Australia, but his passion for football remained a constant throughout his life.
Speaking to the Southern Argus about his football journey, Paul reflected on his love for the game and the rewards he has gained from passing his skills and experience on to others.
“My first club would have been The Three Tuns – it was a pub football team, and we were in the Sunday leagues, which is renowned for its slightly more aggressive approach to the style of football,” Paul said.
“It was a very tough league, and one of those leagues that you kind of ‘took no prisoners’, so you learnt proper football, the way it used to be played – but a bit tougher than people in the regular sport would probably appreciate.”
He would also play school football, and spent time at the West Wellow-Hampshire Club and the Awbridge Football Club.
After settling in Strathalbyn in 2001 Paul soon found the Strikers, going on to play A grade football into his 50s, but also becoming a notable junior and senior coach – all beginning in 2009.
“One of the parents said to me, ‘you are a player, can you come out and coach?’ and my kids at the time were probably five or six, so I was like ‘Oh, yeah, I don’t know’,” he said.
“Then I got chatting and about three months later she said again ‘Come on, put your hand up’, so I thought ‘ok, I will do that’, so I went and did it.
“My sons were of that age, so I thought I would try and get my sons interested in the sport, because I played it all my life.
“I thought it was a good way to coach them and play with them, as well as coaching the other kids.”
“Because I knew the game, and was good at the game, I thought that was the best way to offer my experience.”
“It was an important thing for me, I didn’t have a dad really growing up, so I thought, ‘well, I will be a dad to all these other kids’.”
Paul said coaching brought joy to his life.
“I thought if I can share some of the passion I have for the sport, and have somebody else take on that passion, I only needed to get one player every year to be passionate about it, and then he would maybe be passionate with his kids in the future,” he said.
“I played A grade up until the age of 53, retiring from both playing and coaching in 2023. I had a lot of fun doing it.
“Someone asked me at the last presentation night ‘you would have played your best football when you were in your 20s?’, and I said, ‘no, I played my best football when I was in my 40s’ – and I really think I did.”