COME ON DOWN VOLUNTEERS NEEDED AT FOOTBALL NETBALL CLUBS ACROSS THE REGION
When it comes to country football netball clubs there are no more important figures than the volunteers.
Performing the vital roles of manning the bar, running the canteen, setting up the ground, registering the statistics and regulating COVID-19 protocols, just to name a few, games simply couldn’t go ahead without the hard work and sacrifice volunteers put in.
So as clubs continue to rebound from the two years of chaos the virus presented, the role of volunteers becomes all the more important, as the sporting community calls for all the support it can get.
One of the region’s premier sporting clubs, Mooroopna Football Netball Club, has always had a long-standing group of helpers that have helped make game day run like clockwork.
But with the lack of football in the past two years driving many away from their clubs, Mooroopna stalwart Norm Davis said the situation with volunteers was becoming increasingly challenging.
“The situation with volunteers everybody knows about it, and it is not getting any better, the major challenge is we just can’t get any young ones (involved), everyone has work and commitments which has made things tough,” Davis said.
“I have been helping out for 37 years, I’m retired now and I just love giving back and assisting where I can, sadly though there just isn’t enough of us anymore.”
Joining Davis in the Cats’ band of volunteers is Graham Ferguson, who heads to the club every week due to his passion and love for the game.
“Passion (is the reason I come down), I love the footy club and have been doing it for 26 years coming up and I still love it, so not being able to do it very much over the past couple of years has been hard,” Ferguson said.
“I have been here since I was a kid running around and playing footy, now I’m out there running the water and it is just great to be part of it.”
While the situation is dire for Goulburn Valley League clubs, district leagues are really feeling the brunt of the situation, as Ardmona’s Les Wilson explained what he believed to be the source of the problem.
“When I started back in the early ‘80s nobody got paid, now everyone gets paid from your
players down to your water boys, so not having volunteers puts extra financial stress on the club,” Wilson said.
“The volunteers we usually have are getting older, so they are slowing down and the younger people aren’t stepping up, they always need to get paid for doing something and that is killing football.”
So, as clubs across the region gear up for a new season, head down to your local football ground and netball court and support the revival of country sport.