Nick Hately shares what the life of an interstate footballing family is like
Living interstate while your child chases their football dream can be difficult for some, but Nick Hately has embraced it.
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It’s never easy to see your child move interstate.
However, in the case of football dad Nick Hately, seeing his son Jackson flourish in his first season of AFL with the GWS Giants has been “exciting”.
Jackson was drafted to the AFL’s newest club last year with Pick 14, and Nick said it was something the family had been preparing for the whole year.
“The whole process was incredibly exciting, and it’s been a goal of his for so long, so you know what you’re getting into with 16 other clubs not based in South Australia,” he said.
“As a family you know it’s a distinct possibility, kids just hope they’re drafted in the first place.
“There was obviously a sign a few clubs were interested.
“As you get closer and closer, you get a bit of a feel of where he might go, and then you prepare if it happens.”
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In the lead up to the draft, players are interviewed by clubs and can often be exposed to a number of unique questions, and Nick added even the parents are questioned.
“Jackson was in the AFL academy, he’d played some league footy as an under 18 and throughout the year, in our case, I think 16 of the 18 clubs came to our house to interview us and interview him,” he said.
“Each club does it differently, most of the clubs just want to come into the family home and get a sense of what family life is actually like.
“I think they’re really trying to read whether they think, particularly the interstate clubs, whether they can move away from home.
“I think everybody misses their kids when they’re away, all the clubs have good welfare support, and they keep you up to speed.
“They just wanted to feel those sort of things out.”
With his son being in another state, Nick praised the AFL and the Giants for how they’ve made the families feel welcome.
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“One of the things the AFL does really well, they certainly make families feel a part of it,” he said.
“In the Giants’ case, they got all the parents together after the draft, got to meet the coaches, the senior players.
“You’ll also get in the first year or two, you get eight flights for home games, the AFL pick up the tab for that and parents can fly over to see games.
“Jackson played seven AFL games this year, the Giants play a lot of double headers, so if you plan for a certain weekend, you can book that in advance and he’s either playing in the early or later game.
“The Giants had two games here in Adelaide, he was an emergency against the Crows and played against the Power.
“We’ve gone and seen him more and he’s come back more than we expected.”
Jackson played his first game for the Giants in Canberra, which was the perfect situation according to Nick.
“It was stunning,” he said.
“He was born in Canberra and we moved to Adelaide when he was about three or four.
“He made his debut against Fremantle in Canberra and my wife’s family is from Canberra so they could see that.
“It was hairs on the back of the neck when he got his jumper.”
Jackson was dropped the following week, but was brought back into the side as the Giants faced St Kilda, again in Canberra, and Nick went over to watch, while wife Melinda stayed home and watched from the couch.
Leading up to this year’s draft, Nick encouraged families to support their children if they’re selected.
“All the hard work is done leading up to the draft day, you can’t control that,” he said.
“Kids wishing to have their name called out need to be working hard in the lead up, and you just have to buy in whatever circumstances you have.”