Matter of family pride for the McLarens
that part of the grandstand, he generally knows what you’re after, such are his skills at building customer relationships.
“I’ve got to the stage I know every person’s drink and all that so I’ve sort of got it pretty down pat with people,” McLaren said.
“I used to work at the National Bank and we started volunteering and I ended up doing it every single week.
“And when I left the National Bank they just asked me if I’d keep going with it, so I’ve been doing it ever since.”
Sons Damien and Jarrod have taken up positions as ball boys, while wife Natalie became involved last season and has found a home at the merchandise stand.
“It started when Damien got asked to be a ball boy a couple of years ago, so he’s done it ever since and then Jarrod came on board last year,” McLaren said.
He said it was exciting to be part of the club particularly in terms of engaging volunteers on how to make their crucial jobs more enjoyable.
“I’ve seen it grow and we’ve won a couple of premierships and it’s been really good seeing all the changes we’ve had,” McLaren said. THE first beneficiaries of the new junior rugby league pathway system will have the Barlow Park crowd cheering behind them in two Under-17 City v Country clashes today.
As curtain-raisers to the Intrust Super Cup game between the Northern Pride and Ipswich Jets, girls and boys teams will contest the inaugural Remax City Country Challenge title.
Cairns District Junior Rugby League chairman Ian Lydiard said holding such a match showed the early signs were good for the changes to the junior competition, which came into effect this season.
“We’ve got seven teams in the men’s and at the same time we’ve got six under-17s so all up it’s a growth on last year,” he said.
“It gives our under-17s something to aim for as well. Next year it will be even bigger and better.”
Lydiard said the special jerseys for City, featuring players from clubs as far north as Ivanhoes, south to Southern Suburbs, and Country, including those playing in the Innisfail and Eacham districts would also be auctioned post-game for charity, which is expected to net $4000 for Ronald McDonald House.
Cairns District Women’s Rugby League president Leisha Kennedy said it was exciting to have the girls from Cairns and Innisfail-Eacham represented on the same stage.
“It’s great for the girls just to get some game time,” Kennedy said. “Any game time we get it shows what we’re still building on.”
The region has five under-17, five under-15 and three under-13 junior girls rugby league teams across six clubs this season and Kennedy said the aim was to have an Open women’s competition running by 2020.
“The big thing is the promotion and getting the word out there, because girls just don’t know it’s there,” she said.
The women’s City v Country kicks off at 2.30pm, then the under-17 boys at 3.55pm.