Wayne Wilshere-Cumming (left) turns his hands to the ring with spar partner Scott Barton. Photo: Cape York Weekly.
At 59, Wayne Wilshere-Cumming is the oldest player in the Weipa Touch Football competition – but he reckons there’s still plenty of life left in his legs. So much so, he’s now turned to the ring.
But back on the field, Wayne was named Male Player of the Final for his role in this season’s C-Grade grand final, a proud moment in a career stretching more than 30 years.
Wayne’s team, Can’t Touch This, went down to Scrambled Legs in a match that had to be called off at half-time after one of his female teammates broke her finger.
“We only had five players to start with, so we were down to four,” Wayne said. “It was still a good effort. We had beaten them twice during the year but just couldn’t get enough players on the field.”
Wayne started playing touch football to stay fit for soccer in the off-season and discovered a new passion.
“I just love playing it,” he said. “Then I started playing with my daughter, Clare, about 10 years ago.”
Now Clare, sporting the newly married name of Juraszko, is a gun player in Ipswich and has gone on to play for the Indigenous Queensland side.
For Wayne, it’s all about fitness and just part of his all-round love of sport.
“I love all sports,” he said. “Picking one would be like picking a favourite child.
“I can play just about anything but I haven’t excelled at one.”
That could all be about to change. Wayne has now taken up boxing and contested his first amateur fight recently. He didn’t come away with the win but he’s confident “that will be fixed next time”.
“I’m hoping to fight in the Masters Golden Gloves.”
When he’s not playing sport, Wayne is caretaker at the Cape Animal Protection Shelter in Weipa – and a bit of a soft touch. He’s just taken home a Staffordshire pup that was in danger of being euthanised – and it’s also keeping him on his toes.
“I was hoping my older dog would calm it down, but it seems to be working the opposite way,” he said with a laugh.
So what’s the secret to a long sporting career?
“Just don’t take yourself too seriously and have fun,” he said.
“And never stop.”
