WHEN the senior football team at Kings Meadows High School travels to Melbourne for a clinic with the Hawthorn Football Club today, former teacher and coach Aaron ``Kingy'' King will be in their thoughts.
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The memory of Mr King, who died suddenly of a heart attack on Australia Day, drove the team to win the Northern region premiership against Riverside High School and take out the Tassie Hawks Cup competition against St Virgil's College in September.
Today, the team will travel to Melbourne for a one-day clinic with Hawthorn in ``a final tribute'' to Mr King, who described himself as an obsessed fan of the club.
Coach Adrian Dean said the clinic was offered annually to Tassie Hawks' winners until a few years ago, when the sponsorship was withdrawn.
``But we wrote a letter to Hawthorn explaining our story and they were very supportive, they helped us make it happen,'' Mr Dean said.
``We sought out sponsorship ourselves from local businesses and the school prefect board because Aaron King was meant to be coaching the team this year and he was a mad Hawks fan - probably the biggest supporter we know.''
Co-captain Jordan Bennett said watching the Hawthorn players train, touring the facilities and meeting assistant coach Chris Fagan would be exciting for the team, but for most, the day would be about Mr King.
``Basically we just played the whole season for him and when we're in Melbourne he will be in the back of our minds for sure - it will probably be a bit emotional for us,'' Jordan said.