SPECIAL TRIBUTE TO THE LEGEND BILL DEMPSEY

QUITE often I hear that it is just a sport when I talk passionately about a team, or a game or the one too many statistics I hold in my head. 

There are some people see sport as entertainment to watch, a bit of fun or a way to stay fit while there are those who train and play at an elite level with it being their income just as everyone else has to work for money. But sport can be so much more. 

Only a few weeks ago a dear elderly friend sought me out through a crowd full of football fans during the half time rush for the bathroom and bar.

He gave me the usual big friendly hug and traditional phrase "it’s good to see you my girl". Then asked me to join him for a drink (it was about time for my afternoon coffee, and he was clinging to his glass of red already). 

We started talking about the club we love as they auctioned off signed posters to raise money to support the team. 

Then he opened up about his younger years in the Northern Territory, his grandmother from a small community just outside of Alice Springs but he grew up in Darwin. 

Then he said the most heart stirring thing to me, "I owe my life to this club." And he was quite serious. 

He said he will never forget the day the West Perth Football Club asked him to move to Perth and play for them. That if he didn’t make the move and didn’t have the support of the team, he would most likely have died years ago if he had stayed where he was. 

Just a sport, I don’t think so! This sport saved the life of this legend, gave him a new life, something to focus on and a dream to achieve. 

With an on-field career spanning 16 years throughout the 1960s and 70s, and off-field employment which, at the age of 72 years, he has only just retired from, this man is still going strong. 

Not only that, but his actions and achievements have no doubt inspired many others and will continue to do so if his story remains to be told. 

I’m blessed enough to have visited some Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory and I can truly say, I’m glad Mr Dempsey (as I have affectionately called him since I was a young child) came to WA to play for West Perth, it’s because of that, he lives on and still comes to the WAFL games. 

This week, West Perth will be wearing a special story-telling jumper with the white stars lined up as three-four-three, representing the 343 games Bill Dempsey played for West Perth. 

That part of the jumper is very special to me, honouring a man I admire so much and I was able to take a photo of the jumper earlier this week. 

If you happen to be at the West Perth game this weekend, go find him and thank him for being such a big part of the sport.