ON the surface there’s not much in common between Michael Beauchamp and Roger Antochi, even though they grew up less than 30km apart and are almost the same age.
Three decades before he became captain of the Wanderers, Beauchamp knows he was “very lucky in the sense that I grew up in a loving family, with relatives all very close.”
Antochi was a bit different. “Mum was an alcoholic and addicted to gambling, and my dad — well, the only relationship I had with him was through jail visits,” said the community worker. “I didn’t have any positive role models growing up. I fell into trouble and I’m lucky to be here.”
“Here” on this particular Tuesday is the Wanderers training ground, and it’s the club’s community program that has brought the two men together — along with a few of what Antochi calls “some of the most disadvantaged, disconnected, disengaged young people in our community”.
For an hour Beauchamp and teammate Dean Heffernan talk to the children, strikingly down at their level. Shy to start with, by the end the kids’ chatter is non-stop.
“The children we work with can be homeless, or affected by drugs or alcohol, or the victims of domestic violence or child abuse,” said Antochi. He’s an outreach worker with Whitelion, an organisation working on the front line to give them immediate and sustainable support.
“I deal with 3-5 kids a week who are homeless, mostly through nothing more than being born in bad-luck situations,” he said.
Whitelion is one of a wide range of organisations the Wanderers are involved with, from literacy programs to fundraising, across Western Sydney. Most sports clubs do community work, but there’s something very striking about the interaction between a man who played at the last World Cup and kids who can’t believe their eyes.
Michael Beauchamp chats with one of the kids from Whitelion. Source: Supplied
“It gives the young people that we work with, the opportunity to realise that through an organisation like the Wanderers, that people do care about them,” Antochi said. “It’s engaging these young people back into society in a positive way.
“That direct link is fantastic for the kids but it also helps us in terms of backing from the community — the fans who get behind the Wanderers will hopefully get behind Whitelion and see what we do in their region.”
For Beauchamp, this stuff is integral to his job. “When you hear some of these kids talk it really hits home how privileged you are and the difficulty they’ve had,” he said. “Organisations like Whitelion step in and help these kids, so for the Wanderers to be part of that in any way is a massive thing. Hopefully it gives them something to aim for, and the realisation that anything’s possible.”
“I didn’t have an upbringing like they did, but equally I was not always a professional footballer. I went out to work and wasn’t sure what direction I was going in.
The Wanderers pride themselves on their community engagement. Source: Supplied
“I was trying to tell them to set their goals and strive for them. Whitelion will definitely help them achieve those goals if they’re willing to put the work in. They seem very positive, you can hear a positivity in their voice which is just brilliant.”
Later this month Whitelion holds its annual Bail Out fundraiser, when a group of sponsored individuals will spend the night in prison, including Wanderers staff. The money they raise, particularly with likely cuts to government funding, is essential to their work.
“It’s hard not to get attached to these young people, not least because I was one of them,” said Antochi. “I grew up in Claymore, and I was homeless by the age of 14. I was one of those kids, and that’s what gives me the inspiration to help these kids. I know what they’re going through.
“What helped me was a positive mentor, that’s what we try to do — we link these kids up with mentors, with jobs. We’re out there on the street each week, begging other services to support these kids.”
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