DATING back to 1981, Yanchep United Football Club is undergoing a re-generation thanks to families like the Parkins.
Father Shaun and his sons Sam (12) and Thomas (9) are helping revitalise the club by building junior membership.
Parkin is a playing coach in the seniors as well as coaching juniors at the club.
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Under his guidance, the under- 12s finished the season with a close and hard-fought 2-3 loss in the semi-finals. “The team did really well,” he said.
“They went three down early in the match but they didn’t stop fighting. They clawed back two goals in the second half but just couldn’t get there.”
Parkin said it was important to nurture that young fighting spirit in the club.
“We’re a proud club and well established but we have been missing a strong junior presence,” he said.
“For five or six years we didn’t field any junior sides in competition and that meant we didn’t have the fresh talent coming up through the ranks for the senior teams.”
Three years ago, the club moved to overcome the shortfall and is now steadily building a strong junior presence.
His two boys are in the vanguard of the resurgence – Sam plays in the under-12s and Thomas in the under-9s.
Yanchep United has sides in the miniroos (under 6-11), juniors (under 12-18), a senior women’s team and two men’s teams.
“We can’t field teams in all junior age groups yet, but year on year we’re building up to a position where we have players moving through the age group ranks,” Parkin said.
The club received sponsorship from Yanchep Golf Estate through its community partnership program this year, which subsidised team jackets for players.