FOR ADAM Cerra, his family is a huge part of his life and who he is. 

Speaking about his family connection on the Summer Sessions podcast, Cerra noted the amount of support he gets from his family and how much he enjoys spending time with them – so much so that he spent his off-season with his mum and dad in Europe. 

‘It was a different overseas experience but I loved every bit of it,” Cerra said. 

‘We were able to see part of my family, dad’s cousins, aunties and uncles who I’ve only met a couple of them before and dad hadn’t seen for 30 years – to go with someone who speaks fluent Italian was handy.” 

Now that he’s back to pre-season training, Cerra is looking forward to seeing more extended family at Christmas, noting that he’s no longer the baby cousin of his crew. 

“There’s normally a big lunch that turns into a big dinner,” he said. 

“A lot of my cousins have had kids over the last few years so the lunches are getting bigger and it’s gone from us getting presents to watching the little ones open presents.” 

When asked about his top football influences, Cerra had one answer ready to go: his father, Giovanni. 

To this day, with the midfielder being drafted in 2017, Giavanni kicks the footy and runs with Adam, even taking the Sherrin to Italy to keep the tradition going while they were away.  

“The first one that comes to mind is my old man, Giovanni,” he said. 

“Every off-season, he's out there kicking footies with me and running patterns in the forward 50 for me to kick to.

“Even to this day, now that I’m at Carlton and in my time off in Europe, he was putting the runners on and coming to the oval to kick the footy around. 

“He’s been massive for me, I’ve grown up with his full support.”

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Summer Sessions | "He's always been that support": Cerra on his dad

Adam Cerra talks about why his dad is one of his biggest sporting influences.

Giovanni's influence and willingness to train with Cerra has helped them form a special bond - one that didn’t waver with the move to Perth - and certainly has grown stronger since his return to Melbourne. 

While Cerra appreciates the help he gets from his dad, he admits it’s a bit easier to hit Harry McKay and Charlie Curnow in the forward 50 during training. 

“It went over his head a few times and I thought ‘that's alright, Harry or Charlie will get that’.”