SDD deserves praise for helping stars shine

SPORTS Darling Downs is one of the greatest organisations I have ever worked with.

During both my stints with The Chronicle I’ve worked alongside SDD president Mick Smith and his team, and it has been nothing short of a pleasure.

From the outset it’s obvious there is a real passion in the SDD team – a passion that has helped countless athletes chase their dreams.

A passion that has helped support athletes, officials, teams and organisations to the tune of more then one million dollars over 20 years.

I always attend the quarterly award breakfasts, making myself known to the various athletes so I can pick up a story or two.

Writing is my job but I like to think that we also play a part in helping our athletes take their “game” to the next level and SDD deserves credit for what they do as well.

I’ve been to my fair share of SDD awards nights too and up until last Sunday I thought I’d seen it all.

That was until Mick told me about Neil Mansell and Brielle Erbacher.

While thanking SDD for her 2018 Senior Rookie of the Year award, Brielle shared a little of her story.

A story that inspired Neil (see today’s back page for the full details).

Like so many great Toowoomba businesses Neil Mansell Transport are big supporters of SDD and yet Neil decided to offer more.

It’s that unwavering generosity from people like Neil and all the SDD sponsors that impresses me most.

Not every athlete will go on to be a superstar but that generosity gives all of them a fighting chance.