PETE'S PLAYGROUND
Football commentators used to say that Wally Lewis knew every blade of grass on Lang Park.
His consistent knack of terrorising opposition defences with uncanny kicks that would take outrageous bounces and turns confirmed the belief that only a 'King' knowing every inch of his kingdom could conjure such magic.
Just as Lang Park was the `King's' backyard, thirteen-year-old Surfers Paradise student Peter Norman has a similar affinity with Owen Park Southport, the home of Gold Coast touch.
When Peter Norman runs out as a member of the Queensland U 15 Schoolboys team next Tuesday in the opening round of fixtures in the School Sport Australia Combined Touch Tournament, The Southport School (TSS) Year Eight student will be relying on more than just a little knowledge of the hometown surface.
The son of former Australian Open Touch Representative Greg, and ATA Hall of Fame member and current Australian Open Women's Coach, Kerry Norman, Peter has spent more night's at Owen Park than most of us have had hot dinners.
For the Touch community, the familiar sight of the baby blonde tyro riding his tricycle around Owen Park, resplendent in a fluorescent yellow Tigers Touch club jersey was confirmation you were at the home of Touch on the Coast in the early `90's.
Greg and Kerry, who have always been heavily involved in playing, coaching, refereeing, and administration, would dress Peter in the fluoro shirt, so he'd be easy to keep an eye on.
Wednesday night touch at the Coast wasn't the same until you heard Gold Coast Administrator Henry Lesniewski over the PA system making his weekly impassioned plea for
"Peter Norman to please come to the canteen, your parents want to go home."
Everyone would laugh and Pete would amble in eventually, usually with a sheepish grin, mostly with his shirt now fluoro dirt and minus the shoes, often with the remains of a banana paddle pop on his face, and always with a thousand stories to share about his adventures in `Pete's Playground', the biggest backyard in the world that seemed to belong to him.
Peter was inspired by the speed, fun, and skills on display and took up the challenge of playing by beginning in the Gold Coast junior competition with a bunch of friends when he was five years old.
He has grown quickly from a small boy climbing trees and playing with his `brother' (his Bart Simpson doll, who incidentally, still covets the top bunk in Pete's room) riding skateboards and clocking the asteroids machine in the Gold Coast club house, to a young man who is considered by many to be one of the brightest young talents in our sport.
In a short time, Peter impressed his early coaches as a player with great vision, good basics, and excellent commitment in defence.
With those sorts of credentials it wasn't long before representative touch would call his name.
Firstly at South Coast schoolboy level, and for Gold Coast in the QTA Junior State Cup team.
Peter represented Qld at Primary school level for three successive years from 2001-2003, firstly as a ten year old, then captaining the team last year in his final year at Primary school.
Previously, only one Queensland Schoolboy Touch player, former Qld Rugby League State of Origin star, PJ Marsh has been successful in gaining selection in the Qld U 15 Schoolboys Touch team straight out of Primary school...
That was until Peter Norman came along.
He produced such a mature and outstanding display at the Qld U15 Secondary championships in Ipswich in June that Coach Danny Parker and selectors had no choice but to pitch the Gold Coast Falcons Division One player into the State U 15 Schoolboys team for the Schools Sport Australia Combined Touch Tournament.
The hard working middle has no reservation in saying his selection in the U 15 State team is the best moment of his short career
"It's pretty awesome, no way was I expecting to be selected. There are so many good players in the Qld team, I'm just happy to be there" the typically modest Norman added.
"The PJ Marsh thing is pretty special, but it won't mean much if I don't get out there and do my job for the team."
Norman believes a training camp in the recent September holidays went a long way to bonding the team and sorting out a running style of touch that will prove to be fun to play and execute.
He believes the calibre of players in the Qld side under the shrewd coaching of Dan Parker will allow the Queenslanders to mount a strong charge for the National crown against arch enemies and defending champions NSW.
Both his parents have coached Peter at various stages of his career and in various teams, though they try to avoid the scenario as much as possible to allow Peter to experience other coaching ideas and skills and to enable him to make his own pathway in the sport.
"Occasionally, we'd have a few bumps, more so when he was younger, he would think that that's Mum or Dad talking, not the coach, and he'd react like a son, not a player, and we had to bring him into line a few times...maybe you are harder on your own kids as well, and that's probably been tough for him on occasion," Greg said.
Greg recalls refereeing Pete in his early days, when both Kerry and himself would send their son for substitutions because he would argue with their calls.
Kerry believes Pete is a good student of the game and has been impressed with his willingness to listen and apply new knowledge from his coaches and mentors of late.
"He's learnt plenty from Danny already and Corey Foster has been fantastic for him at Falcons, taking him under his wing and helping bring him along - Pete just respect him so much." "It's good because he can play with the Division One players at the Coast Wednesday, then still go up and play with his mates in the BMTA junior competition Thursday night and really have fun still."
Peter is also very appreciative of the guidance his parents have given him and reckons he inherited his Mum's talk on the field and good defensive skills, and his Dad's flamboyance in attack.
"They've been good, not pushy or anything - they just say try your hardest, listen to the coach, have fun and be a good team man."
Greg jokingly offered that each parent contributed the following to Peter's development,
"Peter received good looks from his Dad and his temper from his Mum..."
"Kerry's brain and speed, and from me - creativeness in attack," he was quick to add.
Both parents have been fully supportive of Peter's Touch career, but not to the exclusion of anything else. Greg believes giving Peter the opportunity to experience a wide variety of activities has been a big factor in the balanced approach Peter has towards life.
He is a budding beach flags champion and trains on the sand to help his speed and technique.
At school this year he performed with distinction in Cross Country, Athletics, and Swimming, and was awarded Best Back for Rugby in the U13 age division.
Being a Coast kid, `Normo' as his mates call him, loves body boarding and spends a lot of time with the boys from Touch and school at the beach or kicking back at the movies.
Oh, and did I mention that he made the Dean's list at TSS for academic excellence?
Typically modest, I had to dig deeper than Damian Martyn on a dodgy pitch at Chennai, to get that piece of information out of him.
So next Tuesday, when the Queenslanders run out onto the Owen Park fields in the U 15 Boys, look for Peter Norman- he's not wearing fluoro yellow anymore, but he'll be sporting the # 3 on his Maroon back, a tribute to his Touch hero Corey Foster, and hopefully he'll keep his shoes on long enough to have his name over the PA system for giving defenders the slip in the race to the scoreline, not his parents.
Games at the School Sport Australia Combined Touch Tournament will be played in two age divisions U 12 and U 15 Girls and Boys respectively, featuring State teams from all over Australia from Tuesday 26th October at Owen Park through to finals day on Saturday 30th October.
Written by Karley Banks, SQBD Development Officer, 19th October 2004
