HEYWOOD footballer Nason Lovett-Murray is ready to take his football to the next level, as the young star has been selected to the 12-and-under School Sports Victoria (SSV) representative side.

Nason, 12, has a pedigree as an athlete which is well-established, with his uncle Nathan Lovett-Murray and father Jeff Garlett having played more than 300 AFL games between them.

Meanwhile, mum Jess an accomplished netballer and marathon runner in her own right, and is married to former Collingwood superstar and premiership player Leon Davis.

The selection process was a gruelling one, especially for a country boy like Nason, starting with the regional trials in Horsham.

From there, Nason progressed through to the conference trials in Bundoora last month, before finally attending two state trials in Mornington and Bundoora on May 29 and June 6 respectively.

“It was a pretty good feeling when I found out (I’d been selected),” Nason said.

“There was a lot of work and effort that went into it, they were pretty hard trials with a lot of running and exercise.

“I didn’t really know a lot of people, so it was hard but good.”

Nason plays primarily through the midfield for his local clubs in Heywood and Portland but said he will mainly be used as a winger and forward for the SSV team.

“I think my best skill is my ball movement, I’m quite good at kicking,” he said.

“There’s no one that I really model my game after, I just try to be my own player.”

While much attention surrounds the sporting prowess of the men in Nason’s family, Jess is a talented sportswoman herself, currently playing A grade netball with Heywood while also being a high-level basketballer.

In addition, she is a key member of the Heywood Deadlies, a running club which is devoted to improving mental health and wellbeing through running and walking.

A great all-round athlete himself, Nason was at one point also vying for selection for the SSV basketball team as well, but he said football is his favourite sport.

“I want to play in the AFL one day,” he said.

Davis said it was a proud moment for him to see Nason make the team, and it had come from a great deal of hard work.

“We all just want to see Nason enjoying his sport, I’ve told him if he’s not enjoying it there’s no point playing,” he said.

“We want to support him in whatever he’s doing, whether that’s sports or academic or something else, I’ve always said it’s his decision on if he wants to do it or not, and we’ll support him in that.”

Both Davis and Jess have plenty of local commitments themselves, and Davis is currently the player-coach of Heywood’s senior football team, but he said he always wants to make it a priority to support Nason’s aspirations.

“The great thing about the Heywood community is everyone is willing to support one another, he’s got lots of people behind him,” Davis said.

“My job is pretty easy, Jess organises a lot of the stuff around where he needs to be, I just take him there.

“It is a bit of a juggling act, but we have the luxury of having a community behind us and a lot of family support to help us make it work.

“Any time we need that support people are always willing to step up and help… we always just want to give him whatever tools he needs to succeed.

“Sport has a great way of bringing the community together, with all his mates who he plays footy with around here and his school mates up at Monivae, or if it’s Coasters with his basketball, everyone is willing to rally around it and we’re very thankful for that as a family.”