It wasn’t that long ago that Australian Mixed Open player, Jayden Benbow was playing at the Queensland Junior State Cup.

Now he is back to teach the next generation of players a thing or two about what he’s learnt along the way.

As a junior coming through the ranks, the likes of Gavin Shuker, Phil Gyemore and Daniel Withers were always there to help out Benbow and the Rockhampton teams in their Junior State Cup quests.

And now Benbow wants to do the same for the next generation.

Benbow joined several Australian representatives at this year’s Queensland Junior State Cup in Hervey Bay on the sidelines as coaches, sharing their knowledge with the up and coming talent.

“I started coaching about three or four years ago, I started out with the under 16’s Boys and brought them through to under 18’s. I continue to come back every year because it’s a really good event,” Benbow said.

“(Coaching) is interesting, it does test your patience at times, but I really enjoy it and I just continue to give back to players. There were guys that did the same thing for me when I was playing now it’s my opportunity to give back to the younger generation.”

It’s a good time to be involved with the Rockhampton junior teams, with five teams making the grand finals of their respective divisions as well as the under 16’s and 18’s Boys claiming their Junior State Cup titles.

And all the hard work is paying off for the Redbacks contingent, with close to 20 Rockhampton players travelling to Sydney last weekend as part of the Australian Youth Squads camp.

“I think we had 16 boys go down to the camp. It’s really good to see the guys getting recognition of all the hard work they put in.

“We’ve just got a lot of people willing to put a lot of effort in, the guys are really committed and really want to go further in the game. They’ve got a really good work ethic and they are really good kids in general.”