Earlier this year my son Max KG, 12, wrote up three goals on the glass door to our northern beaches lounge room. In short, they read:

"IN 2017 MY GOALS ARE TO BE SELECTED REPRESENT NEW SOUTH WALES IN 1) RUGBY LEAGUE 2) RUGBY UNION AND 3) TOUCH FOOTBALL"

When he missed out on being selected for the NSW League team in July - trumped mostly by boys who were 2 to 3 times his weight - he was utterly and absolutely gutted within himself. The drive home from the state championships in Salamander Bay was long... but an important one on his road to becoming a resilient young man who will one day be able to handle all kinds of challenges that life might throw at him.

In an impressive display of self-management, however, he pulled up his socks, placed his attention firmly on his remaining two goals and recommitted to his teammates and training. When the Touch Footy state championships rolled around this time in Wagga Wagga, he captained the Sydney North team to their grand final win, his heart and mind full of passion and fire and focus again. This time, when they announced the NSW representative team to compete in Adelaide at the nationals in December, his name was called. Well done Max. He'd done it... achieved his personal goal... and the five hour drive home had a very different type of energy and conversation. "Mum, I can't believe I'll be representing NSW," he said. "It's still sinking in."

Then, it was time to refocus one more time. His eyes fixed firmly on his third goal for 2017... to play for NSW as fly-half at the rugby union nationals in Darwin Sept 28. As the three day tournament wrapped up last month, again in Salamander Bay, the all-powerful selectors began reading the names of 22 (out of 286) boys who had made the final cut.

A handful of names in, we heard: "Number 10 from Sydney North, Max King-Gibbons." Max stood up and moved to the front of the arena, full of pride for a tournament well-played and one step closer to his dream being realised.

Parenting, while it's a wonderful privilege, can also be a tough road, full of challenging twists and turns. It can be relentless, monotonous and even thankless at times. There's nothing better, however, than being allowed to share in the experience of your child working hard to achieve their goals, fulfill their dreams and thrive.

But here comes the rub.

Getting him to the two national competitions this year will cost in excess of $8,000 AUD ($6500 USD), which is why I've put together this page. As his mum, I want to support him in any and every way I can, to be able to strive valiantly towards his dreams. As they say, it takes a village to raise a child and right now I need the village's help to get him there.

Perhaps Max is the next Bernard Foley on a path to becoming a Wallaby. Perhaps, with a growth spurt or three, he is DCE or Johnathan Thurston (see below pic) in waiting. If you connect with any part of his journey, care about him and his dreams, and are in a position to help financially with even the smallest contribution, not only will you one day have the bragging rights to say "I was behind Max KG" right at the very start of his budding football career... but you will also receive enormous amounts of love and gratitude from a boy (and his mum) who I am proud to say is developing into a good, honest, caring, reliable, smart, talented, funny, fair and lovely young man.

Thanks. From, his mum xx