Junior footballer Nathan Langley will this weekend pull on his boots for the 150th time for Hampton Park. 20709 Picture: Luke Plummer.By Stuart Teather
IT’S not every day an under 14 player receives an award for longevity to the club, but that is exactly what Hampton Park’s Nathan Langley has done.
Nathan will reach his 150-game milestone for Hampton Park on Saturday, a rare achievement for someone his age.
While the club will present Nathan with a junior life membership, he is not too concerned with the award.
“It’s just like another game to me,” he said.
Nathan started playing football at age six and competed in the under nines for four seasons, before moving to under 10s, where he won the club’s best and fairest award and placed third in the league’s best and fairest.
Contending with a severe case of asthma, Nathan was moved to the forward line in his under 12 season, where he dominated and led the league for goalkicking.
In under 14s, he reached the pinnacle of his career, helping to defeat Endeavour Hills for his first premiership.
Nathan said his favourite position was in the midfield, where he could get plenty of the ball.
“(The ball) starts in the midfield and that’s where you get more of the ball. You get more kicks and it’s more competitive,” he said.
“I just get in there and get the ball and get it out to our team-mates.”
While he said his ultimate dream was to play football for his beloved Collingwood, Nathan would settle for a kick to kick with his favourite players.
“I want to play for Collingwood with Dale Thomas and Dane Swan,” he said.
“Even just kicking the footy with them for half an hour, just chill with them would be cool.”
It is little surprise the on-baller has achieved such success, given his family’s involvement at the club.
Nathan has two older brothers who both pulled on the Hampton Park jumper, his father Craig has coached several teams in different age groups, and his mother Joanne was club secretary and president until recently.
