EACH generation has a group of players coming through that are instantly recognisable by their connection with the generation before them.
The father-son or father-daughter combination are two I can imagine would stir emotions. For the family to see them running out and creating their own paths in either local football or beyond would provide a very proud moment.
This weekend we had two locals participate in the national under-18 carnival, Sam Cumming suiting up for South Australia and Jack Ough for Vic Country. Both have parents with star careers.
Both players come from a pretty decent bloodline of footballing talent. Sam Cumming has healthy sporting genes on both sides of the family tree.
His father Glen ‘Ozzie’ Cumming was a star for Wentworth and his mother Kyra Cumming (nee Matthews) had been a netball star in the region for as long as I can remember.
Just to add to the pool of talent Sam has to draw from, his grandfather Doug Matthews was a household name and his uncle Ant Matthews is a former McLeod Medal and Tommy Bland Medal winner who is still suiting up for his beloved Mildura Demons.
Jack Ough is the younger brother of Wentworth big man Harry Ough and the son of star ruckman and long-time teammate of Glen Cumming, Andrew Ough.
Neither Jack nor Sam is playing locally right now as both are away at boarding school. Both are considered chances over the next two drafts to find a place on an AFL list.
Other young players at senior level in the competition have received the baton from highly fancied fathers who I played either with or against in my career. Here a just a few to keep your eyes out for.
Red Cliffs over the weekend had Tyler Bounias debut at senior level with his proud father and Red Cliffs premiership ruckman Alex Bounias on hand to present him with his first senior jumper. While Tyler is not quite the same size as his towering father, he has all the traits of courage and toughness that both his father and uncle Chris showed in their day.
Imperials have two sons of guns running around on centre stage right now in Luke Hickey, the son of local legend Tony Hickey, and Darcy Hogarth, the son of McLeod medallist Paul Hogarth.
If there was ever a weight of expectation to carry, these two lads have that burden in spades. However, both are doing their family names proud. Luke is a key forward whose style is as opposite to his father as you could expect.
A big-marking key player who sometimes slips into the ruck, he has been an interleague representative and a key cog in Imperials’ success this season, having recovered from hip surgery.
With Darcy, on the other hand, you know exactly who his father is just by watching him play. He has evasive skills and special awareness and is low to the ground, exactly like his father. Watching Darcy is like going back 30 years in time.
Ricardo Liparota is quickly making his name at senior level as a no-nonsense key forward at Robinvale Euston with an attack on the ball for someone of such a young age something to admire. His father Felix, while not a key-position player, was certainly a tough contesting player in his own right.
Also at Robinvale Euston is young Guilian Iudica, who is the son of the great and silky left-foot star Vince Iudica. An uncompromising player and coach, no doubt Guilian is getting some very decent coaching from his old man, who is assistant to Craig Davison.
Wentworth have two young players in Rory Hooper, the son of lethal left-footer Mark Hooper, who was one of the purest kicks of a football you could ever come across at Red Cliffs, and Harper Curran, son of Irymple great and former Wentworth coach Sam Curran. With the mop of hair Harper is suiting up with, he is another apple that hasn’t fallen far from the tree in looks on the field.
South Mildura have an emerging star, Charlie Cook, who is switching between the Bulldogs and the Bendigo Pioneers. Cook is running around on a wing, the same wing where his his father Hayden, the games record holder for his beloved Doggies, became famous.
Irymple have quite a few players who also have quite credentialled fathers on the sidelines. There is Connor Carter, the son of premiership coach and former SANFL star David Byrnes, Connor Mensch, the son of Stuart, Bailey Anderson, son of Scott, Toby Scott, the son of Marty, Alex Hollingworth, the son of ruckman Craig and grandson of Richmond premiership player Darryl Cumming, and Darcy Geister, the son of former North Melbourne player Paul Geister.
More senior players still running around the league are the likes of Jarrod McGlashan, son of former Tigerland star Rob ‘Ranger’ McGlashan, Tyler and Josh Martin, the sons of former Mildura star and Richmond player Geoff, and probably most famous of all the father-son combinations, big Jono Lee, the son of Richmond superstar Mark ‘The General’ Lee.
While I have touched on very few here, there are many more father-sons and father-daughter combinations running around in our senior comps and junior comps in both the Sunraysia and Millewa football leagues.
My advice is to get down to your clubs this weekend to watch the talent, not only in the senior grades, but in the junior football and netball grades, among them notable names from a past era you can still get excited about.
