Premiership ruckman Max Bailey returned to Hawthorn last month as a new addition to the club’s coaching panel for 2017.
Following his playing career, Bailey took on a role as a development coach at Richmond at the end of 2013, a position he held for two years.
What was lesser known was the time Bailey spent in Tanzania this year, where he volunteered with the Future Warriors Project for six months, assisting Maasai communities in need of support.
Bailey told Peter Walshe from ABC Grandstand about his experiences abroad and how he found his time as a volunteer.
“The only thing I really knew that it (Tanzania) was pretty safe, sounds funny now but it was sort of the one thing I was wanting. The rest of it I was really happy to go in unknown and figure it out as I went,” Bailey said.
“To be able go in to something that was unknown was exciting for me.”
After spending eight seasons on Hawthorn’s list and battling through three knee reconstructions, Bailey found time in Tanzania put everything into perspective.
“I realised pretty quickly how sheltered we are here in Australia and some of that is a great thing, it keeps us pretty safe, but I think a lot of it also hinders our own personal growth,” Bailey said.
“That’s what I found in just the six months I had in East Africa, I grew a heck of a lot as a person because I was thrown in the deep end and kind of had to fend for myself a little bit which without really knowing I missed throughout my childhood.”
Bailey flew to Tanzania with the intentions of teaching sport at a pre-school and primary school however his natural coaching and sporting ability led him to also coaching soccer at a secondary school
“I was able to meet a lot of different people that opened up a lot of other doors,” he said.
“So I went in knowing I was going to be doing the teaching and came out with all these other travels, all these other adventures that I didn’t expect.”
The experience also strangely enough was a deciding factor in his return to coaching at the AFL level.
“It’s changed my look on simple things like how I’m spending my money and how I’m spending my time.
“The thing that’s led me back in to coaching is the fact that I think young footballers tend to be quite inward but you’re looking after yourself because that’s what you need to do.
“I think there is great value in looking outside of yourself and seeing how you can help someone else no matter how small or big it is, that ends up releasing a lot of pressure you put on yourself.
“I tend to be of the opinion if people can do that (help others), they can find more fulfilment in whatever it is they’re doing, football in particular.”
Listen to Bailey on ABC Grandstand below.
