Retiring Hervey Bay coach takes out Shell V-Power Volunteer Award for July

Brody Parsons is coaching for the 30th season and this will be his last, but the good people of Hervey Bay Seagulls will be glad that he has devoted half of those years to the club that he loves dearly. 

Parsons, who coached at Central Memos in Alice Springs in his early years, has been at the helm of the under 12 Reds side this year at Hervey Bay and has loved every minute of it. 

“This will be my last year as a coach. This is my 14th year at Hervey Bay. It is all about enjoyment and watching the kids get ahead for me,” Parsons said. 

“I coach to help build the kids’ self-esteem, build friendships and hopefully teach them some self-discipline and rugby league skills along the way.” 

Parsons - the winner of the Queensland Rugby League's Shell V-Power Volunteer Award for the month of July - gets input from the players in his leadership group, four of whom have been with him through the grades for many years. 

His son Jasiah is one of them, as is rising star Maddie Shipp. 

“I let the leadership group know that the newer players are only learning and they need to help the players out on the field,” Parsons said. 

“Maddie has been fantastic. She is a forward who has made a number of representative sides including the district team. Her ambitions are to play in the NRLW and we will do everything we can to help her on the way.” 

Young Maddie was in lockdown at one stage after returning from holidays but Parsons kept her involved and part of it all. 

“Her mother Angela is my team manager. Maddie was Face-Timing during games and texting asking about the score. She just wanted to be there and involved,” he said. 

“I rang her and asked who I should be starting and who should be on the bench. It was all about keeping her involved and part of it. That is how I approach it. All of the kids are a key part of the team.” 

Parsons does not make winning a focus but the under 12 Reds team he coaches won all their games in the regular season. 

Parsons has 13 children of his own, all of whom have played rugby league at some stage. 

“My youngest, my baby, is six and she plays in the under 6s here at Hervey Bay. My oldest is 37,” he said. 

“Every one of them has had a go it. My oldest girl, Rosie, is the captain of Newtown up in Toowoomba and has played with the Indigenous All Stars. All of my children have taken their own path in life and they all look up to her.” 

Parsons said Hervey Bay was a pleasure to coach at. 

“This is a really good club. If you need help with anything, they will do it. They are all about helping kids and getting them off their phones and computers and enjoying the great game of rugby league,” he said. 

To get a sense of how much care Parsons has for the children there is a little lad named Blaze who played recently for the first time in front of his proud father. 

“We did everything we could to get him a try to make his year,” Parsons said. 

“My son made a break and the little fella got caught back in the ruck. He never got the try but his dad was just proud that he was captain for the day. 

“He would only be 30 kilos and two foot five (inches). I hold my breath every time he touches the ball but he is tough and always gets stuck in. I call him our ‘Blaze of glory’.” 

Parsons had a group last year that struggled for most of the season, but that didn’t stop him from believing in them and nurturing them all the way through. 

“We persevered and they really stood up at the back end of the year,” he said. 

“They were playing more experienced boys but I was so proud of the way they stuck at it.” 

Parsons had some great mentoring as a young man in Alice Springs from former Maroons and Australian forward Brad Tessman. 

“Brad taught me a lot about the dynamics of coaching,” he said. 

“He finished up in Alice Springs and I was underneath him in the coaching ranks. We were in A grade and I learned a lot about man management from him. 

“I took all of that knowledge into A grade coaching and then adapted it to under 6s but in a different form just to make it more enjoyable for young people.”