This is my article I wrote for the EFL Record two weeks ago.
Volunteers are a huge part and really are the backbone of all football clubs all around Australia and without them clubs would struggle to exist.
Without the time and effort put in by volunteers clubs would not be able to function. Without volunteers functions would not go ahead, fundraising would not be possible and game day would be a huge headache for the clubs.
They are the driving force behind clubs and many key decisions made are made by volunteers who all have a connection to their club either through being a parent of a child playing, having other family connection or just through friends and love of the game.
They can be involved in every aspect of the club whether it is donating their time to help in administration, coaching junior teams and even umpiring or being a runner on a match day.
Volunteers are the people who are the car park attendants, gate keepers, canteen operators, people who set the oval up for each game.
It is not just match day that volunteers are important, they are also able to promote the club, market the club and also help in setting up events during the week.
They do it for the love of their club and will always do whatever they can do to help their club succeed on and off the field.
This week’s nominee is a man who is no different and in his words “saw a light on, popped his head in and hasn’t left the place since”.
After moving down to Melbourne he wanted to meet new people and saw local footy as a great opportunity to do so.
Grant Schumacher who after moving down from NSW to Blackburn many years ago, has served as Bar Manager for nearly ten years now and has also been on the committee for the last 5 years.
As Bar Manager he is responsible for looking after all fridges and freezers as well as stockkeeping and he has been instrumental in nurturing the relationship with the clubs major sponsor Boags.
Blackburn is a Tier 1 club and in 2013 was the biggest seller of Boags products amongst all local Victorian clubs which is a fantastic achievement.
Grant also helps with the arrangements for the highly successful Burners lunches as well as many other successful social functions. He also helps out with the cricket club during the summer.
How much does he love the Blackburn footy club? His wife Barb says he loves the club “too much”
Why does he continue to give his time to the club? He likes the mateship, wants to be part of the club and there is always new people to meet.
While also support the Blackburn Cricket Club, one of Grant’s other interest is the NRL where he supports the West Tigers and he is also lucky enough to be heading over to Brazil later this year with his son Kurt to see the Socceroos compete in this year’s soccer World Cup.
“Schumer” is extremely energetic and enthusiastic and respected by everyone around the football club with club President Gary Connolly saying he is a “very important man” who is great at his job who always steps up on a Saturday.
Grant is another example of how important volunteers are to a football club and how appreciative people are of their time and effort and are respected by everyone at the club for everything they do.
Volunteers deserve recognition for what they do and for the hard work they put it in each and every week and Grant thoroughly deserves this award and we will all continue to see him putting in the hard work for his beloved burners.
It is with great pleasure that we present the EFL Bendigo Bank Volunteer Recognition award to Grant Schumacher.
By Corey Kennedy
You can read it here on the EFL website.
Record 4, 2014
http://www.efl.org.au/index.php?id=293
It's More Than a Game 