Elite athletes have a responsibility, whether they want it or not, as role models. This is a well-worn line often hotly debated and thrown about, but a Auskick superclinic in Ballarat has reiterated how sometimes, a few words or little extra encouragement can have the greatest, lasting impacts.

What athletes say or do does matter, a lot, often without them even realising it.

Earlier this week, The Courier met six-year-old Lucas boy William Robinson, who has autism and an intellectual disability. He wanted to thank unassuming Western Bulldog Jack Macrae for being nice to him.

In a short chat, walking back to a group huddle from a goal-kicking drill, Will felt Macrae was his friend. Macrae was unlikely to know his was the only autograph Will wanted on his Essendon jumper, or that Will was now seriously considering converting to the Western Front.

But it meant a lot to Will.

For adult Bulldogs supporter Paul Bowman, it was a chat with Doggies’ ruckman Will Minson on a club family day that proved a turning point in his life. Bowman was struggling with depression and diabetes, but still loved watching his team train at Whitten Oval. While Bowman still has a long way to go, but shared his story in club media ahead of the mid-year launch to encourage other men to join and in his continued drive to make Minson proud.

Community engagement is a key part of the job for many professional athletes or players in marquee teams. School clinics, hospital visits or club-endorsed initiatives and functions are demands built into playing and training schedules.

And there are athletes who go above expectation. 

Basketball Ballarat requires import players for Miners and Rush be involved in community outreach programs and junior coaching. 

Rush’s tall American Joy Burke has a phenomenal involvement about the region, a lot driven on her own initiative and passion. This included mentoring a well-being program for a small group of Alfredton primary girls the school had been identified as needing a little extra support.

“We talk about how to handle different situations. Because I’m a basketballer the girls look up to me as a role model so it’s good to share my experiences and how I overcame them,” Ms Burke told The Courier amid a session in June.

“I tell them it’s good to be different and to not let other things, like society or friends influence you. You have to discover who you are yourself. This has been one of the most rewarding things I’ve done with my basketball stuff. It’s completely about life, not just sport.”

We are so quick to cut down our sporting best for perceived poor performance or antics but too often, we overlook the overwhelming amount of good our athletes are doing.

Those who do the extra tend not to do so for self-promotion, but because they understand the responsibility they have as role models. They understand the importance in even a seemingly simple act, like a few genuinely kind words.