RUGBY: Family now takes first place for Grant Fox

ANENDRA SINGH
For someone who has helped thousands of sports people overcome the jitters, Grant Fox confesses he had knots in his stomach while coaching a few years ago.
The former All Black superboot, who had no qualms about shutting out hecklers in packed stadiums, now wishes he had booted the job into touch much sooner.
"I found myself waking up on Saturday mornings with a knot in my stomach. To be honest it was a feeling I was getting a bit sick of," Fox told TodaySport last week while caddying for his son, Ryan, during the New Zealand Under-23 Amateur Golf Championship in Hastings.
"I wake up on Saturday mornings now much more relaxed and life's much easier. There's less stress," the 43-year-old says as he adjusts his sunglasses on his forehead.
For the internationally acclaimed first five-eighth who got the All Blacks and Auckland teams out of many tight situations with his accurate kicking it was vital to stop coaching in 2003 to spend more time with his family.
"I spent a lot of time away from home. The family's the most important thing in your life and the rugby team came first - that's a terrible thing.
"You train at certain times and it's all about the rugby team and everything revolves around it.
"Now I'm enjoying myself, putting more time into my business and much more time with the family," says Fox, whose company, Carnegie International, markets sports and makes signs for sporting venues. He is also a RadioSport commentator and columnist for the Star Sunday Times.
"If I was with the Blues I wouldn't be here (at the Hastings Golf Club in Bridge Pa until Saturday) to enjoy this," says Fox as his 18-year-old one handicapper son sits next to him on a bench at the Hastings club.
"I found the emotional rollercoaster challenging to the point that as a coach you cannot do much to control things. As a player you could run out on to the field and still contribute.
"As a coach you do your best to prepare a team and there's not an awful lot you can do. So it comes to match day there's not an awful lot you can do - you've got no outlet."
He emphasises the need for people to get the balance right to spend time with their children.
Ryan, wanting to "go all the way", is convinced he can earn a living as a professional golfer some day but Fox cautions that pursuing one's dream is wonderful but having something to fall back to is also vital. Ryan is studying for a psychology degree at Auckland University.
Fox and his wife, Adele, have another child, 16-year-old Kendall, who loves playing netball.
"Their mum Adele supports her too. She'll do well in netball and, hopefully, he'll do well in golf. Inevitably, if Kendall does well in netball there might be the odd clash (in who they will be able to support."