Jack Zimmerman is the talk of the town.
The 10-year-old will captain his Year Five Investigator College class, from the Victor Harbor campus, in a match against the Adelaide Crows next Tuesday (February 11) at Encounter Bay Oval from 9.30-10.30am.
Jack’s entry form was drawn from hundreds of entries in the Adelaide Crows Australia Post AFL Community Camp Primary Schools competition. Head of the Junior School at the Victor Harbor campus Mark Tenny said Jack was stunned when the Adelaide Football Club called to tell him.
“I was standing next to him and he was just stunned,” Mr Tenny said.
“Then reality sunk in and he pumped the air and was so excited. He is an outstanding young man, who is exemplary with the values of the school and community.
“We are all so excited for him and of course his class and our school.”
Mr Tenny said the 200 students at the junior school campus will officially be told at a school assembly tomorrow (Friday, February 6), while parents will be advised by a letter, but word was already getting out.
The Crows community team, along with Claude Crow the mascot, will be at the assembly as part of the Club’s ‘Live Right, Feel Bright” school program.
It was a visit from Claude Crow, as part of the Crows schools program at Jack’s school when he was a reception student, that laid the seed for his love of football and the Adelaide Crows.
His mum Fiona Zimmerman tells the story that Claude Crow challenged Jack, then aged 5, up onto the school stage for an arm wrestle in front of the whole school.
Jack, who was at Victor Harbor PS at the time, beat Claude Crow and was presented with a Crows jumper which became his favourite piece of clothing. His obsession with all sports, but particularly footy and the Crows extends to the NAB AFL Fantasy football competition and all thing statistics.
Mum Fiona says he loves following all the results and statistics and could recite Crows scores from previous years.
“He just loves the statistics side of the game,” Fiona said.
“He’s been like that with sport since he was a little tacker.
“I remember him transfixed by the Commonwealth Games lawn bowls on television.”
A lover of all sports Jack currently plays basketball and is looking to play club football this winter and cricket next summer. The youngest of three children, Jack will certainly fine-tune his football skills next Tuesday when as captain he will choose to stand his favourite Patrick Dangerfield and learn from one of the AFL’s best.”
The Adelaide Football Club Community Development team has been on the Fleurieu Peninsula over the past few weeks presenting the "Live Right Feel Bright” schools program and handing out entry forms for the “once in a lifetime opportunity” Adelaide Crows Australia Post AFL Community Camp Primary school competition.
Click here to view the Club’s 2014 Australia Post Community Camp itinerary.
