Purely Amateur: All Hands On Deck

[Q.]

Purely Amateur: All Hands On Deck

by SAFooty's Quichey

As a player it's easy to take for granted the existence of your football club that provides you with everything from an avenue to keep fit to the source of life's best memories.

Clean showers, tidy changerooms, hot meals and cold beers are simple pleasures that we don't think twice about, but behind their existence is a volunteer who takes time out of their own busy life to give something to the club they love and to the footballers who pull on the guernsey.

These are the very people who run the barbecues, canteens, bars, raffles and sponsorship drives, which provide a source of funding to keep a club operating. They mark the boundaries on the oval, wash the guernseys we play in, timekeep our games, and run us water. Without them we wouldn’t be taking to the field on Saturdays.

There is a seemingly endless list of duties and tasks and quite often too much is left up to too few. Volunteering can be incredibly satisfying and rewarding, especially if it's within the family bastion of a football club, but when one is shouldering multiple duties, the passion can be stifled.

I've previously romanced that you can't compare the camaraderie at training and the white line fever on game day with being home alone in front of the idiot box or sucking beers on the sidelines. However, the next best thing to playing football is staying involved in football, because as a volunteer you are one of many cogs that drive a club to success and, deep down, most players are in gratitude of the support. The more people that become involved, the easier it becomes for all that are involved.

Football season may have wound to a close for us players, but those behind the scenes are already working with next season in mind. With AGMs just around the corner, now is the time when many clubs are seeking more hands on deck. An hour or two of your time each week is invaluable to a club and other volunteers, so why not be a part of the success?

[Dutchy]

Nice one Q, being involved in a footy club again this year for the first time in 10 years has been great fun, I dont think a lot of people understand how rewarding volunteering (at anything, not just footy) can be.

[mickey]

Very well put Q. If only more people had this attitude it would make things a whole lot easier.

Might also steal it, if I may to try and rally the troops at my own footy club.... if u don't mind!

[Q.]

It'll cost ya

[mickey]

I'll buy u a beer next time houghton play seaton

[Footy Chick]

I'll buy u a beer next time houghton play seaton

[best on hill]

******* spot on Q, volunteers are the life blood of the cowell footy club and i would say every other club in country/metro footy club, a big thanks to all the volunteers in local footy.

BOH

[am Bays]

And make no mistake the nine SANFL League clubs wouldn't operate without an army of volunteers throughout 46 weeks of the footy season.