Community Legend: Chris Aitken

When a club official was asked to describe the roles that Chris carries out on a daily/weekly basis, his response was simply “he does everything for the club.” When you delve deeper you discover that is probably the best way to sum Chris up.

Chris assumed the Presidency of the club in 2013 after it was vacant for 12 months and immediately went to work.

Whilst the club had been successful on-field, off-field was not as rosy. Since Chris has taken over the club has remained successful on-field, fielding three senior teams and winning the club championship in 2014.

But it is off-field where Chris has really taken control, to the point where Terrigal Avoca are now considered to be one of the best run clubs in the Black Diamond AFL.

This has been achieved by Chris rolling up his sleeves and taking on a large workload which includes:

–       Obtaining sponsorship (record levels in 2015) including a strong relationship with major sponsor, Breakers Country Club

–       Organising club functions

–       Being the main point of contact for all correspondence and club matters

–       Organising both on-field & off-field apparel

–       League delegate

–       Registrar

On any given match day you can find Chris in any of the following roles:

–       Club Umpire

–       Team Manager

–       Canteen organiser

–       Runner/Water Carrier

–       Scoreboard Operator

–       Timekeeper

At home games he is always the first to arrive and the last to leave.

This year Chris’ task has been made even more difficult with the club’s home ground out of action, which meant he has also become a negotiator dealing with council and the league to find training venues and alternate grounds for home matches.

Despite all this you can always see Chris with a smile on his face.

While most clubs have members like Chris, it is doubtful many would have anyone who does more than Chris.

Each week during the regular season AFL NSW/ACT will identify and recognise a local Community Legend from one of our community Leagues. Volunteers play a vital role within our game and without them community football simply doesn’t happen.

AFL NSW/ACT would like to thank all of our community volunteers for their ongoing commitment to our game.