‘No. That’s it.’

‘Okay. I’ll be off then. I’m playing footy with the boy next door.’ He slotted his phone in his pocket and picked up the ball.

‘Let’s start with handballing,’ he said, knocking the footy to Max.

The kid managed to catch it, but his body language smacked of self-doubt, and Leon knew it would take some work to build up his confidence. He punched another easy pass, and this time Max fumbled the ball to the ground and was immediately downcast. ‘See,’ he said, ‘I told you I’m useless.’

‘No, you’re not. There’s a better way to hold your hands so you can catch it. Like this.’ Leon showed him. ‘Now let’s try again.’ He stayed close and passed short, looping balls that were simple to catch.

After a few successes, Max’s face started to light up. Then he dropped one again and kicked at the grass. ‘Bloody ball. It’s such a stupid shape.’

‘Yes, it is. But we can’t change that, so we just have to go with it. When the ball hits the ground, you have to guess which way it’s going to bounce—that’s half the fun. Sometimes you get it right. Sometimes you get it wrong. And when you get it wrong, you just have to laugh. Now pass the ball back to me.’

Max punched it high, and Leon feigned a miss. He let the ball bounce and did a dive to the wrong side, allowing the ball to roll down the hill. Then he leaped up and raced after it, scooping it up and punching a high lob back to Max, who was laughing. ‘Get under it,’ Leon called. ‘That’s the way. Get your arms ready and it won’t hurt.’

The boy seemed to surprise himself by gathering the ball to his chest.

‘See?’ Leon said. ‘When you get your hands right and get in position, it isn’t so hard.’

They worked on handballs for a while, Leon gradually increasing the distance between them and the difficulty of the passes, so Max caught most of them and missed just a few. Then they moved on to kicking. Leon punted a short ball, which Max marked easily. Then the boy took hold of the ball, screwed up his face and rammed his foot at it, sending it curving and spinning way off to one side. Leon tried to defuse the kid’s dismay by clowning around, but the bad kick was obviously a blow to Max’s pride and Leon could see he was ready to go home.

‘Hang on,’ Leon said. ‘Let’s not finish like that.’ He retrieved the ball and demonstrated the best way to hold it, hands wrapped around the contours, fingers spread. ‘I’m going to show you some tricks. And if you’re willing to work with me each day, then you’re going to improve.’