Deer Park’s Kevin Klix has been turning heads in the WRFL. 84331_04 Picture: JOE MASTROIANNI
By ADEM SARICAOGLU
WHEN your name is Kevin Klix and you wear pink boots, chances are you will stand out in a game of footy.
But the numbers Deer Park’s speedy midfielder produces each week speak for themselves.
Last year’s WRFL Rookie of the Year broke into the Lions’ senior team late in 2011, eventually taking part in their premiership win over Albanvale.
Now in division one, Klix has played all 14 games for Deer Park this season and nailed 26 goals as a midfielder, including eight against powerhouse Spotswood in round 11.
He has also been named in the Lions’ best players in nine of the past 10 games.
Not bad for a 19-year-old that nearly quit the game for good.
Klix made it to the Western Jets, but struggled for both a game and recognition.
“I was going to quit footy,” Klix said.
“People never really had much confidence in me, they always had doubt and I didn’t get a game until about halfway through the season at TAC Cup level.
“I went back the second year, did the pre-season and the coaches at the Jets started to come up to me and saw what I could do, but I didn’t feel like I was committed enough for it.
“I was going to pretty much quit footy, but luckily I had a good mate that really kept me going and got me to Deer Park.”
Confidence is everything for Klix.
After only five games in the Lions’ under-18s team, senior coach James Condos came knocking.
“Jimmy Condos came up to me and just told me ‘you’re too good for 18s, I reckon you should be bettering yourself to play senior footy’, so I started off playing a bit of senior footy, started to like it a bit and got into a premiership,” Klix said.
“I really enjoyed that, it was a good time, they’re good blokes and it really made me want to take my footy a bit further.”
Condos said he wouldn’t be surprised if Klix went close to winning the Barry Priest Medal in his first full season of senior footy.
“His impact on the club has been enormous,” Condos said.
“He played in our premiership side last year and certainly the platform was there for him to be pushing for division one football.
“There’s some really good players in this competition but I’d certainly say he’s probably already in the top 10 in the league.”
Slowly, Klix is starting to believe in himself again.
On the day he kicked eight, the Spotswood opponent that had kept Klix quiet earlier in the year was quick to remind the youngster he had his measure.
“He was getting into me a bit about my boots,” Klix said.
“I missed my first goal and he goes ‘yeah, just like last time, mate. You didn’t do too well, did you?’, and then the second quarter came and in the end I ended up bagging eight goals on him.
“I went up to him at the end of the game and I go ‘mate, I don’t think we’re equal anymore’.”
Klix is used to copping flak for his pink boots, but he says he wouldn’t have it any other way.
“People always say you’ve got to be a bit different and I’ve always wanted to shine and get noticed for my individual work, even though I’m doing all the hard yards,” he said.
“Wearing the pink boots can be a benefit for me in my own way, because every time I wear them I get a bit of confidence out of them, especially once I get a couple of goals.
“People get into me but I just wear them to prove a point.
“Someone on the boundary line is always going to yell something out, but at the end of the day I just hope to prove my point and they’ll probably come back to the next game say ‘that’s the guy in the pink boots, better look out for him’.”
