Joe Cardle swelled with pride as he clutched his League Two player of the month prize for August.
However, the Kelty Hearts wing wizard is adamant that feeling pales in comparison to supporting vulnerable kids in Fife and the Lothians.
Cardle and his wife, Lucy, are passionate supporters of the NHS following the extraordinary care afforded to their daughter Lyla Jo.
She was born nine weeks premature in 2017, weighing just 3lbs 6oz and was looked after by the Special Care Baby Unit in Kirkcaldy.
Ever since, the family — including the happy and healthy Lyla Jo — and staff at the Joe Cardle Academy, have overseen fundraising campaigns to buy equipment, donated gifts and lit up Christmas for hundreds of kids.
Thanks to Joe Cardle, Lucy Patterson, the Walker family, and everyone involved in the Joe Cardle Football Academy's amazing Easter egg donation to our Children's Ward.💙 pic.twitter.com/hgtRAOGxQK
— NHS Fife (@nhsfife) March 25, 2021
“With my daughter spending the first two months in hospital, we felt helpless and we lived and breathed a lot of the worst fears parents can have,” Cardle told Courier Sport.
“So, basically any opportunity we get, we’ll look to pick up a few bits and drop them off at the hospital. We did it a couple of weeks ago and we’ll be doing a massive run just before Christmas.
“We were very fortunate to raise quite a bit of money to provide gifts to Edinburgh’s Sick Kids’ hospital last year and we’ll do the same again. We’ve already started stockpiling presents!
“We’ll do drop-offs in Kirkcaldy and Edinburgh — and it’s just nice to give a little bit back. It feels like the least we can do.”
He smiled: “Whether it’s at the academy, or at the hospital, if we can put some smiles on faces, it means the world. That’s better than any player of the month award!”
Cardle’s passion for nurturing and developing youngsters has been exacerbated by running his own academy, working with kids of all backgrounds and skill levels.
“With the academy doing well, young people are the lifeblood of that,” the former Dunfermline favourite continued. “It’s only right we put something back into the community and towards the people who help kids and their parents.
“Football is a huge part of my life but, as you grow up and become a family man, other things come into focus.”
Dugout dream?
Whether coaching kids proves to be a gateway for a career as an SPFL manager in his own right — as it has for Kelty gaffer Kevin Thomson — is another question, and one for another day.
“I’m yet to make that decision for sure,” Cardle added. “I’ve done my [coaching] A-Licence and I’m really enjoying the work within my academy. There’s no better feeling than working with kids for months and seeing how they develop.
“For the moment, I’ve got a really good work-life balance. I’m 34 and still feel fit as a fiddle — and I want to continue as long as I can and help Kelty Hearts on this journey.”
