Illawarra rugby outfit the Woonona Shamrocks and Ocean Park has been a home away from home for Ryan Schoupp most Saturdays over the last 28 years.
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And the Shamrocks captain wouldn't have it any other way.
"On Saturdays we are typically down at Shamrocks either playing, being a ball boy or helping out where we could," Schoupp said.
"With dad being a player and then coach, Saturdays down at Shamrocks is all I've known.
"It's a great family club and great family community.
"Basically all I've known since I was born is footy down at Shamrocks and I wouldn't have it any other way."
The Schoupp name is well known at the Woonona-based club, with Brendan Schoupp a decorated former player and coach of the Shamrocks.
His sons Ryan, Blake and Aaron have also represented their beloved Shamrocks.
Blake is a Wallaby who now plays for Super Rugby Pacific side ACT Brumbies.
Aaron is a centre for NRL club Gold Coast Titans.
The eldest sibling Ryan is extremely proud of his younger brothers achievements.
The 28-year-old is loving playing for his beloved Shamrocks but is excited at the opportunity to achieve "something special" on the For King and Country Tour.
Schoupp is one of 28-players chosen from around Australia to tour and play matches in Great Britain in October this year.
The tour party was selected after an application process.
The squad will play a game against a Sydney team on October 11 before flying out to London the following day.
During the team's almost three weeks on tour they will play games against Blackheath Rugby Club as well as against Cambridge and Oxford University.
"I expect some pretty good rugby and pretty good test," Schoupp said.
"To be honest, I'm looking forward to testing myself against all these good players and playing with some quality players as well.
"We've got some ex-Aussie Sevens guys in the team and a couple of Super Rugby players. It will be good to play with those sort of guys and test myself."
The tour also features some high-profile coaches including Jim McKay, who is one of the longest serving Super Rugby coaches in history.
"To get some exposure with guys of this stature is exciting, hopefully I can bring some of that knowledge back to Shamrocks, which would be nice and pass it on to those younger guys," Schoupp said.
Schoupp is one of two from the Illawarra chosen for the tour, alongside Tech Waratahs star Misieli (Eli) Sinoti.
![Misieli [Eli] Sinoti in action here for the Tech Waratahs, will also feature in the For King and Country Tour to the UK. Picture by Anna Warr](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/kZL4qV6yTxfrWZJxKQxjSN/a5f4baf3-76ce-480b-b80e-74c525d50882.jpg/r0_91_1200_766_w576_h298_fmax.webp "Misieli [Eli] Sinoti in action here for the Tech Waratahs, will also feature in the For King and Country Tour to the UK. Picture by Anna Warr")
'"It will be good to play some footy with him. I've know Eli for a long time, he's a great player.
"I've never actually had a chance to play with him. I played against him enough times and I'd be excited to play some footy with him as well," Schoupp said.
"I just want to put my best foot forward with them on the tour and see what happens.
"I'm definitely excited to get over there and experience a different brand of rugby and play with some high quality blokes and play against some high quality opposition."
While Schoupp has played the majority of his career at Shamrocks, he did spend two seasons at Southern Districts playing with his brother Blake Schoupp.
"Me and Blake got to play together before he made his Super Rugby debut, which was really cool.It was great to get the opportunity to play alongside him before he got the opportunities he has had. I didn't think we'd get that chance," he said.
"I'm proud of what he has achieved and it was a pretty proud moment for the family us getting the opportunity to play together at Southern Districts."
Schoupp is also loving being coached by his dad at Shamrocks and is hopeful of leading the Woonona-club to a first first-grade premiership since 2007.
"My dad was actually the coach of that premiership-winning team which went through the season undefeated," he said.
"If we can win a first grade premiership, it'd be really nice to have a full circle moment, with my dad back this year, but we've got a long way to go.
"Either way I just want to be around the club as long as I can to help out and hopefully bring the next generation of players through that we can help out.
"And maybe one day dive into the coaching circle like my old man did. That might be a long way down the pipeline. In the meantime I just want to enjoy my rugby and hopefully bring some success to the Shamrocks."
It's been a tough start to season 2024 for the Shamrocks who have lost their opening three games of the season but to be fair to the Rocks they have played perhaps the three best teams in the competition in Shoalhaven, Kiama and Camden.
Shamrocks also fell just 94 seconds short of ending Shoalhaven's 24-game winning streak.
"We've played well in most of our games, I'm sure a win is not too far away," Schoupp said.
Agron Latifi
Wollongong born and bred. I love reporting about the Illawarra region and have been doing it for more than 20 years. I've moved into sport recently after covering the education round for the last five plus years for the Illawarra Mercury. It's been a great pleasure.
Wollongong born and bred. I love reporting about the Illawarra region and have been doing it for more than 20 years. I've moved into sport recently after covering the education round for the last five plus years for the Illawarra Mercury. It's been a great pleasure.
