20 jumpers in 20 days update
St. Ives Saints were awarded their jumper on account of their hefty umpiring stocks, with the Saints boasting 26 registered umpires, one of the largest contingents of whistle blowers in NSW.
One club that’s especially excited to receive its jumper is the Penshurst Panthers, who have the state’s highest percentage of players signed on as Sydney Swans members, with 26.7%.
Club President Angie Zissis, himself a huge Swans fan, says the combined support of the men in red and white brings everyone involved with the Panthers closer together.
“Penshurst is a great community club, with a great bunch of people involved, and the majority of them support the Swans, which is a really nice something extra to bond everyone,” Zissis said.
“We have big groups of families in the club attending games together to cheer on the Swans, and we have had a couple of nights down at the club where we’ve put the Swans’ away game on the big screen, and parents and kids have come down to the club to cheer them on.
“It’s very exciting to win this signed jumper, and we will put it to good use.”
The Newtown Swans will be awarded a signed jumper for their stellar effort in embracing diversity.
Taking on the theme of the Indigenous Round the club decided to honour its indigenous players and their families and involve the local community in events over the weekend.
The celebration began on the Friday night with a game between the U13 Div 1 JV team (Moore Park / Newtown).
Player Marc Anthony Lawrence and his family were honoured with MA captaining the side.
Both teams (Easts U13-1s and MPN) came together to speak about the spirit of football and its inclusiveness, share stories and hold a warm up together.
Before the game an acknowledgement of country was conducted and a guard of honour was formed for MA and his family with players from both clubs presenting him with a Swans Indigenous jumper as a memento of the occasion.
The match was played in fantastic spirit with both sides and their parents enjoying a BBQ fundraiser at the end of the game (over $500 was raised for an Easts player that has leukaemia).
On the Sunday, Donna Ingram, a local elder, welcomed the players and spectators to Gadigal Country and spoke about the role of Indigenous AFL players both in the game, and in the community.
As part of her speech, Donna said ‘I would like to congratulate the Newtown Swans and Maroubra Saints for your commitment to achieving true equality, trust and respect through reconciliation and joining with us in celebrating our diversity, our culture and our relationships.’
The U15 and U17 players and the umpires then formed a guard of honour for Aaron Kennedy and Riccardo Morton (two of Indigenous players) to enter the field.
After a raft of very impressive submissions, Drummoyne Power have won themselves a jumper, recognising the efforts of canteen coordinator Mamie McLean.
This year alone the club hosted over 3500 players at our home ground, that’s a lot of hungry footy players and their families to feed every week!
Mamie really does put the VALUE into Most Valuable Club Person- the canteen contributes just over 35% of the club’s annual revenue, enabling Drummoyne Power to keep registration fees as low as possible.
This contributes directly to player retention and growth each year.
An average week would see Mamie coordinate the purchasing, stocking, prepping and cooking of at least:
• 300 sausages
• 20 – 25 kg bacon
• 300 eggs
• 3 kg onions
• 300 long rolls
• 200 round rolls
Mamie Tribute video (very cute kids alert)
Full lyrics – Sung to the tune of Up There for Sydney (Cazaly)
Up there for Mamie, in there day & night
The spirit of Cazaly, lots of bread and some Sprite
Up there for Mamie, Mamie- you rock!
Bacon frying, red pythons, queues around the block
Things don’t come that easy when the crowd is on descent
You have to show your courage to earn the dollars and the cents
Mamie’s inspiration, serving rain or shine
We’re out to show Australia, watch those bacon rolls take flight
Up there for Mamie, in there day & night
The spirit of Cazaly, lots of bread and some Sprite
Up there for Mamie, Mamie- you rock!
Bacon frying, red pythons, queues around the block
Westbrook Bulldogs’ unique recruitment drive – Saturday night football at Greenway Park – sees them awarded a Swans jumper.
Some clubs do trivia nights, Westbrook do Saturday night football.
The focus is on the Junior age groups to get as many games and spectators as possible and offer a great experience.
14 Teams from the North West and beyond experienced an electric evening this year.
There was 200 Lux lighting, music was blaring, and the best local hamburgers and sausage sizzle available; the neighbourhood was pumping!
The other bonus with this round is the teams who participated got Mother’s Day off (a big thumbs up and talking point).
Another dimension to this hugely successful night was the support for Pink Ribbon and the money raised for the great cause.
The Northern Districts Australian Football Club win a jumper for their brilliant local charity partnership.
The Northern Districts Australian Football Club is an organisation that prides itself on the lucrative partnerships that it has built with various stakeholders in over forty years of football in the Illawarra.
The NDAFC has fostered strong, lasting relationships with other clubs in the area, clubs from other sporting organisations, a multitude of sponsors and the local community at large.
But it is the partnership with the Disabled Surfers Association that the Tigers are most proud of.
On Saturday the 5th of July, the NDAFC played in once off commemorative jumpers to celebrate the 30 year anniversary of the Club’s last 1st grade premiership.
On hand to support were the Toothless Tigers, the rag-tag group of ex-players and supporters who used the day as an excuse to get together and reminisce over a few (dozen) beers.
After a stirring victory, the Club’s major sponsor Woonona Bowling Club hosted a massive event at which the jumpers worn on the day were auctioned off to the highest bidder.
Both night and day were a massive success for the Tigers, which would not have been possible without the support of the Port Kembla Football Club who brought good numbers back after the game, and in particular Quay Collective who were generous enough to sponsor the jumpers themselves.
The real stars of the show of course were the representatives from the South Coast Region branch of the Disabled Surfers Association.
This fantastic group began in 1986 and provides a unique opportunity to enjoy the beautiful Australian coastline for members of our community who would otherwise be unable to safely enter the water.
All this from an organisation who receive no financial support from any level of government, instead relying solely on donations from the public and the selfless nature of their volunteers.
Given the #1 Tigers supporter Brenton Ashford-Potter’s connection with the DSA, the NDAFC committee had no hesitation whatsoever in deciding that this organisation should be the benefactor of the jumper auction.
And thus it was with great pride that after a hugely successful day followed by an even more successful night, the Northern Districts Tigers were able to present the South Coast Region of the Disabled Surfers Association with over $7000 raised from the auction of the commemorative jumpers.
