Drynan is now into his second year as the Auskick coordinator at the Bathurst Bushrangers and his third year involved with the program.

Drynan was only scrolling through Facebook on Monday night when he discovered he had won the award.

"I was shocked and excited. I didn't even realise I was up for an award," he said.

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"I was busy working and then I finished. I was eating dinner and looking at Facebook when I saw my name on there saying I was a winner, so it was quite a pleasant surprise and I was quite honoured to earn that.

"This award comes down to all my support from the coaches and parents who got involved to help the kids have the best time ever."

Drynan first got involved with the program as a coach when his eldest son Marshall starting playing back in 2019.

"My eldest Marshall went to one of those after school school Auskick learning days. He really, really enjoyed it and because of that, we signed him up with the Bathurst Bushrangers," he said.

"I joined as one of the coaches to help out and I got my youngest Cooper involved too.

"The first year, it was really good fun as a coach. Last year, with all the COVID happening, the coordinator who was in charged, his son wanted to play another sport, so they asked me if I wanted to be coordinator and I accepted it."

It's a busy gig being the Auskick coordinator, but it's something that doesn't keep Drynan down.

"I manage all the players, make sure they know where they're going and organising uniforms," he said.

"I organise coaching sessions for all the coaches every week too. The coaches get notified about three or four days beforehand about what the activities will be, make sure it's fun and age appropriate.

"I also look after any sort of enquiries from parents and help set up on gameday, as well as fun times in between."

Unfortunately for Drynan and the juniors, the Auskick season came to a premature end, with COVID-19 lockdown cancelling the final two weeks of the competition.

Auskick is a program designed to teach the basic skills of Australian rules football to boys and girls aged between five and 12.

A nationwide program in Australia, it has increased participation in the sport amongst children, and is employed in countries such as New Zealand and South Africa.

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