King Of The Kids

Max Evans is recognised as the founder of Little League football in Geelong, ironically his father Bill, is regarded as the founder of the North Shore football club. Here in his own inimitable style he tells his story of junior football.

During the dark days of the second world war i was a young lad who had tired of the usual pursuits like door knocking and then running like hell. I rounded up kids in our neighbourhood and organised games amongst ourselves, we usually had about six per side. These games soon became a bit boring and i hopped on my trusty bike and rode to the Geelong Grammar School and as cheeky as hell organised a match with them. To make up the numbers several boys came from Lara to help out , the young lad in charge of the Grammar boys was Graham Richmond the man who later played such a big part in making VFL side Richmond a powerhouse during his reign there. We also organised games against GWCFC and St Albans one of the best sides we faced was the Geelong College, so in effect these round robin games were virtually the start of Little League or Junior Footy. After the war there was a lull for some years until Norlane started to grow in the late 50's and early 60's, this is when the little league began to take off. One of the early coaches was Stuart Hildebrand, who at 15 was given honor of coaching the North Shore Little League's first side to play South Adelaide in South Australia in 1963. This side on arrival at the Adelaide Railway station was met by the Adelaide media of all descriptions as it was billed as the first under 14 interstate football game. A crowd of 9000 watched that game and highlights were shown in the TV news bulletin that evening. During these early years it should be noted that the kids not only played but coached, managed and umpired. With the rapid expansion of the NSLL it became necessary for adults to play a role as it was becoming very big, growing at one stage to three sections of nine teams in each plus a mini reserve section of six sides. A great source of revenue for many years was at the Norlane Hotel where patrons were very generous, we were also fortunate to have 100% support from the publicans. During the golden years of the league the late Arthur Dennis, Mick Brady, Stewart Golding and myself had important roles as president of one of the biggest sporting bodies in Geelong. During these days the NSLL not only played interstate games but organised the first interstate junior carnival with two sides from South Australia, one from Tasmania, one from Western Australia plus our good neighbours Eastern Colts and us making for a very successful event. During this era the opening day was a huge carnival with a parade of players being led by the Newtown Pipe Band under the leadership of Pipe Major Doug McLaren. a former North Shore player in pre-war days, many stalls also added to the atmosphere. Teams competed in a football olympics which included running, handball, kicking and relays. Bill Frost at this time rated one of the fastest in the Ballarat league and also coach of the magpies in the NSLL suggested a coaches 100m sprint, Bill became very embarrassed when i passed him at the 50 metre mark. During this era the boys of the league were taken on trips to the Melbourne Zoo once in a specially chartered train and the other in a fleet of buses. We had our own bus and a vehicle which was used to run gear to our grounds, Windsor Park, Evans Reserve and Shell Oval. The NSLL purchased from the government for ten shillings an old rent office which was converted into a canteen for Evans Reserve. Players from this era to go on and play VFL were, Jan Smith (Geelong & Fitzroy), Mike Woolnough (Geelong & Collingwood), Alan Lynch (Geelong, Footscray & Richmond), Tom Floyd (Geelong & Collingwood), Nigel Kol (Geelong & Melbourne), Michael Kol (Geelong) and Damien and Brendan Christiansen (Geelong). Our first little league best and fairest winner Mike Woolnough had the unique honor of winning three best and fairests in one season Competition Little League, His team Tigers and the North Shore Under 15A best and fairest in the Geelong and District Football League. Alan Lynch (Jnr), the first player to reach 100 games, and his father Alan (Snr) a league coach and myself have the honor of best and fairest medals named after us. The question now is can the demise and decline of our once great little league in recent years be rectified. There is an opportunity for some hard working community conscious minded people to get in and resurrect and revive an organisation which has done so much for so many youths in the Northern Suburbs of Geelong.




	Max Evans


	Max Evans is recognised as the founder of Little League football in Geelong, ironically his father Bill, is regarded as the founder of the North Shore football club. Here in his own inimitable style he tells his story of junior football. During the dark days of the second world war i was a young lad who had tired of the usual pursuits like door knocking and then running like hell. I rounded up kids in our neighbourhood and organised games amongst ourselves, we usually had about six per side. These games soon became a bit boring and i hopped on my trusty bike and rode to the Geelong Grammar School and as cheeky as hell organised a match with them. To make up the numbers several boys came from Lara to help out , the young lad in charge of the Grammar boys was Graham Richmond the man who later played such a big part in making VFL side Richmond a powerhouse during his reign there. We also organised games against GWCFC and St Albans one of the best sides we faced was the Geelong College, so in effect these round robin games were virtually the start of Little League or Junior Footy. After the war there was a lull for some years until Norlane started to grow in the late 50's and early 60's, this is when the little league began to take off. One of the early coaches was Stuart Hildebrand, who at 15 was given honor of coaching the North Shore Little League's first side to play South Adelaide in South Australia in 1963. This side on arrival at the Adelaide Railway station was met by the Adelaide media of all descriptions as it was billed as the first under 14 interstate football game. A crowd of 9000 watched that game and highlights were shown in the TV news bulletin that evening. During these early years it should be noted that the kids not only played but coached, managed and umpired. With the rapid expansion of the NSLL it became necessary for adults to play a role as it was becoming very big, growing at one stage to three sections of nine teams in each plus a mini reserve section of six sides. A great source of revenue for many years was at the Norlane Hotel where patrons were very generous, we were also fortunate to have 100% support from the publicans. During the golden years of the league the late Arthur Dennis, Mick Brady, Stewart Golding and myself had important roles as president of one of the biggest sporting bodies in Geelong. During these days the NSLL not only played interstate games but organised the first interstate junior carnival with two sides from South Australia, one from Tasmania, one from Western Australia plus our good neighbours Eastern Colts and us making for a very successful event. During this era the opening day was a huge carnival with a parade of players being led by the Newtown Pipe Band under the leadership of Pipe Major Doug McLaren. a former North Shore player in pre-war days, many stalls also added to the atmosphere. Teams competed in a football olympics which included running, handball, kicking and relays. Bill Frost at this time rated one of the fastest in the Ballarat league and also coach of the magpies in the NSLL suggested a coaches 100m sprint, Bill became very embarrassed when i passed him at the 50 metre mark. During this era the boys of the league were taken on trips to the Melbourne Zoo once in a specially chartered train and the other in a fleet of buses. We had our own bus and a vehicle which was used to run gear to our grounds, Windsor Park, Evans Reserve and Shell Oval. The NSLL purchased from the government for ten shillings an old rent office which was converted into a canteen for Evans Reserve. Players from this era to go on and play VFL were, Jan Smith (Geelong & Fitzroy), Mike Woolnough (Geelong & Collingwood), Alan Lynch (Geelong, Footscray & Richmond), Tom Floyd (Geelong & Collingwood), Nigel Kol (Geelong & Melbourne), Michael Kol (Geelong) and Damien and Brendan Christiansen (Geelong). Our first little league best and fairest winner Mike Woolnough had the unique honor of winning three best and fairests in one season Competition Little League, His team Tigers and the North Shore Under 15A best and fairest in the Geelong and District Football League. Alan Lynch (Jnr), the first player to reach 100 games, and his father Alan (Snr) a league coach and myself have the honor of best and fairest medals named after us. The question now is can the demise and decline of our once great little league in recent years be rectified. There is an opportunity for some hard working community conscious minded people to get in and resurrect and revive an organisation which has done so much for so many youths in the Northern Suburbs of Geelong.