Our unheralded volunteers

Local communities, schools and sports clubs rely on volunteers to carry out much of the heavy lifting, and light lifting, to keep things running. Auskick, netball, soccer, cricket, basketball, tennis, athletics, rugby and Aussie Rules, among many sports, need unpaid workers to fulfill a myriad of important tasks each week.

There are jobs for boundary, goal and field umpires, scorekeepers, staffing canteens, roster preparation and one of the most important of all, cutting up oranges for the little ones at halftime … the number of positions to fill is seemingly endless.

Many sports activities involve families with mum, dad and even the grandparents pitching in and doing their bit.

Both young and old enthusiasts would not be able to participate in regular sport without the efforts of the many thousands of selfless volunteers around the country. Their work often goes unheralded but without their participation many clubs would flounder or even cease to exist.

September is always a great month with the weather starting to warm up, but it also signals the end of the season for some of the winter sports we enjoy.

As you watch the finals in your favourite sport take time to reflect on the volunteers and the wonderful job they do.

Bless them all!