School holidays has provided many parents a break from lots of kids chores such as lunches, uniforms and weekend sport as seasons take a break. Are you a parent who misses your child’s sport a little , a lot, or are you soooo glad to not have to go ,because it is always a little daunting standing with people who seem to know a lot more than you ,about what your kids are going through.  As a cricketer I always enjoyed the psychology of people and looking into WHY things happened not just WHAT happened and as a parent I am no different.

Parental emotion intrigues me everytime I stand on the sideline . The variety of  sideline styles are as diverse as those on the field and my message to supporters is simple- be aware of how you sound and what you are saying. If you  can  understand what motivates your behaviour , you can  be great value to everyone.

At a recent football match I attended there was a massive weight/size difference between two sets of junior forwards. I guess some parents didn’t even notice this , as they hollered excitedly watching the big ones steamroll the smaller ones of anxious parents.  Why they were cheering so vigorously, only they could answer. It was ugly, intimidating to the smaller players and uncalled for . It does the bigger boys no good either because things only start to count in sport when size isn’t an issue, not before.

So, what is your style?  Is it quiet, is it rowdy, is it humorous, encouraging, instructional or critical maybe of opponents, coaching or officials? Can you accept a below par performance or do you have to do something about it ? If you know which of the above are you and WHY you are like that, your awareness is good. If you don’t know why you are loud when you hit the sideline at rugby but quiet for cricket, yet critical at netball, you might need some self analysis.

 Remember, it is about them, not you as a parent . Parental nerves are useless and should be masked by enjoyment of being there. Steve Waugh and Glenn McGrath have boys in the same cricket team , their challenge is to allow the other parents to be themselves by creating a relaxed environment for all.

That’s one reason why it is good to be supporting in a  sport you don’t know as much about. I was sacked as my son’s caddy one year in a regional tournament when he was 10. “The poor little fella can’t get through 4 days without me wheeling his bag, helping him with his putts and telling him when to eat  etc etc “. After day 1 Helen says to me , “has Tom spoken to you yet?” He hadn’t ,so they broached it together.  “He would rather not have a caddy from now on, with a couple of reasons provided” “FINE “, was my hurried, shocked response as I went away to analyse the wreck. I got it immediately, he had played with just his mates all year and now this fun policeman , was helping him physically, but preventing a lot of other freedom. “Don’t swear, don’t sulk after that missed putt, no spitting the dummy, drink more water , look for your partner’s ball, keep up”  and on and on . He was good at all of that but not perfect and that’s what I was after unknowingly . My sacking was a highlight for the other dads.

The next day ,the little bugger put on a show – 39 on the front 9, everything flushed down the middle. It was hot and I knew he hadn’t touched  the lollies, sandwiches, biscuits or fruit in his bag . A missed putt on 11 and a bogey on 12 brought a tear to his eye and a swear word or two under his breath.  He shot 10 shots worse on the back nine but still won the day and the eating lesson was learned better through experience rather than a niggling dad making him eat .

All young sportspeople are learning heaps everytime they attend a training , pull on the match outfit and warm up and with every success or failure . It could be technical, physical or social but the sporting environment is unreal for teaching skills to cope . We fail more times than we succeed in sport but the ability to bounce back is natural if they love having a go. Go with them to enjoy nothing more.

Timana Tahu’s extreme stance against the words of Andrew Johns in the last origin camp has produced very little good. Dodging the situation and making a public statement without speaking to the perpetrator first ,was so 30 years ago . Times have moved on and our Australian society is the most aware of these issues and the keenest we’ve ever been to sort it out.  Currently we are the least racist generation of Australia’s short history.

It makes me laugh , listening to politicians state Australia has never been racist or discriminatory and there has never been a place for such behaviour in Australia.

We have been terrible . Mostly unaware of the damage it causes, granted , but still terrible nonetheless. From our grandparents to  parents it has improved . Their notions  and portrayals of the Japanese as well as indigenous Aussies is surely all the  proof one needs . Unrefutable I would say.

Awareness at least is now ingrained , behaviour is definitely improving, but the rugby league scenario can still erupt when one party doesn’t think. Johns had probably overused the racial repertoire in what he thought was friendly team environment , oblivious to the offence that was brewing . There came a snapping point for the experienced Tahu, whose response was to turn his back on a team attempting the impossible and  a state hurting everywhere (not just on the sports field) . His  immediate absence from the camp was the first knowledge that he was ever offended and it was all too late to resurrect . Did he not want to fix the problem?

From there you have Tahu in the headlines, both positive and negative, Johns with a longer face the Whobegotya, standing down from his beloved coaching role, getting hammered from everywhere and the game lurching into another media battle for credibility.

What did that achieve ? In my opinion not enough for the indigenous cause. Constructive forgiveness must be the goal not blatant punishment .

Man to man conversation would have solved this one immediately . Such sporting teams would do anything for each other as long as they know how one feels. Obviously this wasn’t going to make a big enough goose of Johns for Tahu’s liking , or publicise the indigenous plight strongly . Tahu’s concern for  younger squad members, Hayne, Idris and Learoyd –Lars, was commendable but walking away did nothing to back up his words. Stay there get it sorted and ensure they were not subjected to more.

From there I suggest  , once all has been settled ,  the media could be fronted by both men to tell their story and the solution that has been found. Johns’ lazy vocabulary would improve and  his remorse would be real but not terminal. Tahu ‘s mentoring status would become esteemed ,through dealing with  offensive behaviour for the good of some up and comers as well as others like Johns, who still believe their words don’t offend. The   game would appear strong and mature just like the men who sorted it out .

Instead we got an old fashioned response , meant to punish  . The go-to man or at least a study of his actions, in this situation must be Nelson Mandela. What an absolute legend, almost God like, in his ability to develop the future rather than use the past to his people’s advantage.

Timana could have portrayed confidence in his people and their progress , improved the behaviour of a former playing legend and probably others, as well as the atmosphere of the  sport forever. He didn’t.

We are able to offload plenty to them too. Our point of sale system of IT always blows them away , when we show them what we can view remotely whilst away and the types of reports we can draw on to continually measure the performance of our people.

We landed in LA and barely was Chris off the plane and we were visiting the global headquarters for NS , one of the biggest wash manufacturers in the world. Thomas and Francis drove us to several of their sites which wash many times more vehicles per day than ours !! California is the home of full service carwashing , so we loved seeing what works there and how it is done.

On to SanFrancisco , a beautiful sightseeing city but we saw NONE of it as Chris had lined up Jeff Copeland to show our Aussie contingent around the carwash industry instead !! Man are there some huge sites in San Fran. Lozanos  keeps an unbelieveable  pace up all day, Matt and Jeff’s site is a ripper , a place called Divisedero touchless wash is simply crazy and the delta queen (pictured)is themed as a steam ship but moves more like a ferrari. 800 cars per day is nothing to these groups which have 2nd and 3rd generation workers who are absolute legends.

Then of course Jeff had us all to dinner for his (more likely his wife, Holly’s ) best ever ribs . They lived up to expectations. A great night.

Then to Sacramento , the home of Arnie to experience the generousity of Kelly Rielly, from Kellys carwash group. His willingness to impart his experience to us was inspiring . He began washing cars for his dad when he was 11 and  at 28  started on his own. He now has plenty of sites which are so well looked after that his 16 year old one looks no worse than his newest of a couple of years. No one knows their market better than Kelly. We had a shocker in the car heading the wrong way many times on major interstates and too much time spent on confusing on and off ramps but the day ended and a beer was enjoyed by all.

Now to Vegas to get confused by all the latest and greatest for all types of carwashing. Johnsy has spent 6 years cutting through guarantees and promises ,to settle on suppliers that we are very happy with. This year we want to improve our speed of wheel cleaning, we”re investigating barcode readers for quicker greeting and maybe we can improve our signage in certain areas. The show (as pictured ) was perfect for all areas.

Now we are back with the work of implementing new ideas ahead of us . One thing we immediately notice is the workrate and diligence of our staff. They never seem to slow when the pressure is on and we are very proud of what we have begun.

49 cars in the hour was an unbelieveable result and they were on fire but surprisingly when the time was up the thrill of carwashing had worn off for all 3 and departing was a high priority.
It was a tentative start, getting to know the ever moving system and procedures, due caution not to get too wet and have their tans disappear was demonstrated. This was swiftly replaced by total confidence and carefree performances, for everything around them other than the vehicle being washed. The video clearly identifies their love for the merchandise and skill level was very high. (ably supported by our legendary washbay staff)
We could have sold tickets to spectate from the cafe it was that packed as the vehicles passed bumper to bumper for the entire hour.
Great job to Labby, Camilla and Stav- funds to charity, entertainment to many and great fun for our staff who didn’t know what had hit the place, as many of them are Korean !

Read the full Interview featured in next months Accelerate Magazine.

My carwashing business (Hoppy’s), through Bmag , created a competition in October to win two cricket clinics with Moi as coach of your junior team. Out of nearly 70 applicants , the Loganholme Cobras U/13 ‘s were successful with their entry penned by team manager Tania Bennett.

In Nov we started things off well with a Saturday arvo net session with players and parents. It was obvious though, that a lot of parental dedication was to be needed to nurture some beginners yet stretch some better kids and keep them engaged.

It is a difficult thing to begin a sport at age 12 , alongside and against much more comfortable performers , whilst attempting to forge friendships. It is nerve wracking for the player , quite often losing sleep with worry about tomorrow’s game and even worse at times for the parents, who would probably pay a good fee for a “breakthrough” moment on the field for their youngster.

For our second session together I coached them on match day a week ago against the boys and girls of Jimboomba CC. Immediately signs were good , where in warm ups skill improvement was obvious and enthusiasm still sky high. Catches were taken, throws were good – look out Jimboomba !!!

We bowled ok having won the toss on a damp wicket and dismissed them for 54 . Ahmet created havoc first up with his left arm cutters and occasional bouncer! Most of the others chipped in with economy, or wickets as well as a magnificent direct hit run out.

Then for our batting , with a fair bit of complacency in the ranks , off we went batting our best at 9, 10, 11 where of course they wouldn’t be required.

WRONG. 4 for 15 , before we steadied a little with Ishan hanging in with BJ who smacked 17 . We passed 54 , 7 wickets down. Travis and Ahmet then got us to 83 where they will resume next week , possibly pushing for the outright.

This group of boys were as natural as I have seen in the way they fit together as a team. Applauding effort as loudly as performance, keeping everyone’s heads up in the field and mucking around a fair bit along the way , like kids need to on a weekend . It can’t all be structure.

My baggy green was passed around , everything that moved got a signature on it and the Bar BQ was a delight where parents and players could refuel, reflect and enquire about anything , as we watched the Cobras Second eleven play on the no 1 oval.

It was a top experience thanks to BMag and Hoppy’s . Neither of us have circulation/business down that way , so hats off to the  genuine nature of the competition.

Now for my big challenge – convincing my partner Chris Johns he needs to dust off his footy boots to look after the skills of a junior rugby league team !

Or maybe the Roar players now that BMag sponsor the soccer.

Stay posted.

1. Training time is something to love rather than treat as a chore. Between the backyard, competition and training, the experts say 10000 hours is required to be a master . Obviously a huge commitment but certainly not tough to compile. There are years of blood , sweat, tears and fights with siblings along the way, which is nothing but enjoyable .
2. Family and friends regularly get put on hold throughout your time in lights, as the number one priority of career aspiration takes hold . Family accidents , medical mishaps , nephews and nieces being born, twenty firsts , weddings and even your own childbirth can be missed. This ,I think is the biggest downside to a sporting career, yet still far outweighed by the positives.
3. Putting the “real world’ on hold for 15 years also prevents a development of work skills which can enable a player to enter the workforce on a par with their new colleagues and competitors. This can contribute to hard times soon after a career, working from such a low skill base , even with a well earned high profile . There are fewer favours in business these days than once was the case and a lot less promotional type fulltime roles that retired players hold down. Many of cricket’s former legends of the 60’s and 70’s had such jobs.
4. A sports career is lived in a total cocoon and frequently it is towards the end of such a career when an athlete becomes more aware of the sacrifices they have made and have to continue to do so, or retire. With regards cricket, the long term player is about 35 years , his children are growing up faster than ever , training starts to become a chore and that intensity is waning. Priorities are changing , skills are declining at a time when you need to be performing and training harder and better than ever , to withstand the enthusiasm of younger opponents day in day out . Ricky Ponting is currently getting knocked around by young speedsters who cherish the opportunity to impress him. That is why his skills need to be as sharp as ever or runs won’t be scored and the game not enjoyed. Matthew Hayden succumbed to the wishes of his daughter who loved having him in the garden with her.

My point is that if there is a sense of sacrifice in anything you do you are probably in the wrong profession . Find a way to enjoy whatever it is you do and you are a chance of success , whatever that may be . Sport is so very easy to enjoy and I am so fortunate to still be involved well after my playing days .
There is no comparison between what we do in sport and those who take on the ultimate sacrifice . A willingness to put your life on the line in serving our society is awe inspiring to me everyday. Defence , police and the like ,where a bad day regularly has dire consequences for such great people. An even more impressive aspect of these people is that we never hear them complain about the sacrifices they have made, yet that is one complaint I would tolerate from professionals who are superb at finding a way to enjoy.

When it comes to innovation, the United States apparently doesn’t have the market cornered on creative carwashing. One example: There’s a small but growing chain of hand-carwashes in Australia that has creatively applied some technology that is paying off quite nicely by reducing costs while enhancing its reputation in the community as well as enriching the overall customer experience.

Hand Wash Café currently operates three locations in Queensland, with several others under construction. The hand-carwash and café idea is the brainchild of well known Brisbane & Australian rugby league Hall Of Fame celebrity Chris Johns. In partnership with world cricket legend Ian Healy they’ve created a high quality, time efficient hand-carwashing service that boasts some uniquely popular advantages.

Bountiful Help From Mother Nature

Water is essential to sustaining all life; we simply can’t live without it. And if you’re in the business of washing cars, water is fundamental to your livelihood. Atmospherically, water comes from three basic places: in the ground, from our waterways, and out of the sky.

Most carwashes use water that comes from under the ground, either via wells and aquifers or through a municipal water system. However, with the increase of drought conditions worldwide, many are returning to the fundamentals of capturing, containing and reusing rainwater as a supplement to our most basic needs. The easiest and most obvious use of rainwater is for irrigating landscaping. Other domestic uses include washing clothing and supplying toilets.

Given the growing challenge of restricted water use due to droughts, the owners of Hand Wash Café decided to harness and reuse rainwater as a major source of non-potable water for vehicle washing and rinsing process. After doing a feasibility analysis of the costs, they invested several hundred thousand dollars to create a rainwater harvesting system that utilizes sedimentation, filtration, chlorination, and cyclonic extraction of minute solids from captured rainwater that is harvested from the rooftop of their facility and stored in huge underground tanks.

A series of holding and processing tanks supply 500,000 liters of water for washing and rinsing vehicles in their retail operation. Although they are not completely self-contained, the majority of their washing process is fed by rainwater that supplements the closed-loop reclaim and recirculation system. Not a drop is wasted, and that conservation effort has been applauded by Australian governmental agencies from within their country as well as by the International Carwash Association several years ago when Hand Wash Café was given an industry award for Innovation in Carwashing.

Named the “world’s best practices process” by Australian media, Hand Wash Café has demonstrated the most frugal use of water in professional carwashing worldwide simply by applying an age-old practice of harvesting rainwater. Unfortunately, the United States is quite a bit more conflicted about rainwater harvesting with no uniform national policy on its conservation and reuse. It remains an issue dealt with individually from state to state, running the gamut from encouraging the use of rainwater to actually outlawing it. It makes good business sense to investigate what your particular state allows regarding rainwater harvesting. Even limiting the use to landscape maintenance is a good start, and moving towards the eventual acceptance of an integrated system that supplements your current use of municipal water resources is a logical direction for development. Hand Wash Café has created an identity of being an excellent steward of the environment. And that appreciative community acceptance builds business and makes life a whole lot easier for them. It also saves them many thousands of dollars in overhead each month. In fact, many of their customers feel that using rainwater actually provides them a superior carwash result, and have become staunch supporters of the chain’s facilities.

Another Innovation: A Magic Carpet Ride!

Hand Wash Café’s first wash was initially equipped with a conventional roller & chain conveyor with steel guide rails that contained cars as they rolled through the entire length of the tunnel. The rails made the workspace cumbersome and the chain and rollers were noisy and posed a clear danger to the washing staff.

Chris and Ian soon recognized the value and safety provided by upgrading to a moving-floor conveyor system. By upgrading to the flat belt design, they completely eliminated the risks associated with wheel and tire damage as well as the undercarriage clearance restrictions from guide rail intrusion. Since the washing is accomplished by manually mitting in the tunnel, the flat floor with no guide rail obstruction to staff foot traffic, the process is much safer, too. Now, due to the conspicuous benefits of a moving floor conveyor system and customer insistence for the upgrade benefit, all their washes are using flat-belts in the washing process.

The owners were genuinely surprised at the powerfully positive customer reaction to the new moving-floor phenomenon that enabled their cars to safely glide atop the conveyor belt just like taking a magic carpet ride. Nothing touching the wheels or tires, and there are none of the risks associated with a rolling vehicle.

Assembly-Line Processing Increases Capacity

Chris Johns feeling is that time is money and improvements that increase production and decrease customer wait-time are well worth the investment, even in challenging economic times. Accordingly, he’s decided to upgrade by conveyorizing his hands-on operation by implementing Flex-Serve along with the increased capacity of a moving-floor Express After-Care operation. With the upgrade of two side-by-side moving-floor conveyors, Hand Wash Café can now process 50-60 cars-per-hour with select detailing services. Johns says that by upgrading, he is using less space to produce more cars… and create and maintain happier customers. Johns says it makes perfect sense that a detailing activity take steps to capitalize on the upscale image of a moving-floor conveyor, especially if it distinguishes what you do when compared will all others. “The conveyor company, Safetveyr, showed us how to do more… with less, and that has had a very positive impact on our bottom-line.”

“Although the move was a bit more expensive up-front, the payback in productivity as well as marketing with a conspicuously visible competitive advantage makes it quite worthwhile. We anticipate a quick return on our investment as demonstrated by our previous experience with the flat-belt in our carwash processing.” Johns increased his peak capacity in hand-carwash production to 125-per-hour with the upgrade, and expects his price-points in detailing to accelerate the express after-care upgrade payback considerably.

Chris and Ian invite fellow carwash mates from the United States to visit them and see how they’ve maximized the prudent use of rainwater in their operations. And while there, enjoy a ride on one of their magic carpets!

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Chris Johns

Chris Johns had an outstanding career as a rugby league player and administrator. He played for the Brisbane Broncos between 1988 and 1996 having begun his career with the St George Dragons. Johns played in Broncos premiership teams in 1992 and 1993 and he is one of only six Broncos Hall of Fame inductees. He also made nine State of Origin appearances for NSW and played 23 games for Australia.

Johns was the inaugural CEO of the Melbourne Storm in 1998 and played a major role in their first premiership. Johns’ preoccupation these days is discovering world best practice in carwash procedures to implement them at our sites. USA is the most established nation for what we do and he has viewed, washed and installed conveyors with American owners from San Francisco to Florida.

Johns is currently on the periphery of rugby league, but keeps a keen interest on the progress of his three NRL clubs – the Broncos, the Dragons and the Storm.

Ian Healy

Ian Healy was a permanent fixture in the Australian Cricket Team from 1988 to 1999, missing just one Test – because of a broken thumb. Healy amassed five world records along the way.

He held the world record for the most dismissals by a wicket keeper (395) and has played more Test matches (119) than any other wicket keeper in Australian history. In 1994, he was appointed Australian Test Cricket Vice-Captain and in 2000 was named Australian Wicketkeeper of the Century.

Since retiring in 1999 Healy has moved into the commentary box with Channel 9 to provide insightful observations on the world champion Aussies. He also reads the nightly sports news for the Queensland 9 television network.

Along with Chris Johns, Healy keeps his eye on all the footy codes, Broncos, Reds and the Lions and absolutely loves a game of golf.

Young cricketers strive to be recognised by the Indian franchises in 20/20, rugby league and union players are continually being courted by Japan and France cash cows and now the most unlikely of decisions by Karmichael Hunt to switch codes . With sport now established as a workplace rather than a sport of passion these transferees stand to lose precious little ,other than face, for possible failures. There is no such thing as payments being tied to successful performance, the majority of fees are guaranteed upfront , injuries and loss of form mean nothing financially as the player is fully insured for everything that might strike. Why wouldn’t anyone take on such challenges , potentially thrilling but possibly disastrous .

Sport should continually investigate 2 things- paying for performance under the workplace relationship it has with it’s players and withholding a percentage of monies earned by young players for after career security. This can recreate the hunger of eras past , ensure  current players  live within their means and then provide them with good coin post career.