Champion volunteers

This article appears in the June 2009 edition of Sportshorts.

Profiling the efforts of sporting volunteers in NSW

Craig Nealon

Current club/association(s):

• Illawarra Men’s Hockey Inc
• South Coast Women’s Hockey Association
• Jamberoo, Albion Park and Oak Flats hockey clubs

Current volunteer role(s):

• President, Illawarra Men’s Hockey Inc.
• Head Coach Hockey Program, Illawarra Academy of Sport
• Coach, Jamberoo First Division
• Coach, South Coast Rep teams
• Member, Shellharbour Hockey Centre
• Hockey NSW High Performance Committee
• Umpire

Years volunteering to sport
I started coaching 28 years ago.

Why do you volunteer?
That’s easy – over the years, a lot of people put a lot of time and effort into helping me as a player, and also my family members – providing us with many great opportunities and experiences. I feel that it is only right that I should now contribute in a similar way for others.

How many hours a week do you dedicate?
I would guestimate about 16 on average. On top of this are many other hours thinking about stuff, including waking up in the middle of the night stressing over something!

How do you juggle family commitments and volunteering?
My family are all involved in Hockey, so most of what I do has a family member involved one way or another. We all tend to go and watch each other play – it’s what we do together mostly, and I think this aspect of it not only makes it bearable, but extremely rewarding and a lot of fun.

Clubs struggle to recruit volunteers. What do you think is the key to getting people to volunteer for sport?
I’ve always found that many people are prepared to do something – the trick is to ask them in the right way, and then provide the help and resources they need to be able to do it. In the absence of this, most people will stand back and do nothing.

How does your club/association look after its volunteers?
For the most part I think volunteers are largely ignored, other than perhaps receiving an award at presentation night. That’s OK, though, I think if there were more formal rewards or recognition, or even payment, this may only downgrade what it should be all about. Most people volunteer with the expectation that it is usually a thankless job.

What’s been your most rewarding moment?
Listening to the national anthem being played when my wife and children have played at a national level.

What’s not so good about volunteering?
The more responsible the position, the more hassles you can get. People can become very passionate about sport, and sometimes test the boundaries of acceptable behaviour, and this can be unpleasant. This is far outweighed however, by people who are supportive of what you’re doing. The other not-so-good thing these days is that you get lots of emails.

How important is sport to you?
Sport is a lifestyle thing – the unpredictable nature of results and different personalities can lead to endless talking points around the dinner table. It is also important as a sense of identity – I would probably define myself as a “Hockey Person” long before I would any other aspect of my working life.

What will be your role in the upcoming Champions Trophy event?
I’m the Volunteer Media Manager – for the most part that will mean dealing with lots of requests and little hassles from the media reps present. I’m sure I’ll be busy – they can be very demanding!

We want to hear from you!

Do you know a champion volunteer? We’re looking for champion volunteers to profile in upcoming issues of Sportshorts.

Volunteers can be ‘champions’ for all sorts of reasons – e.g. innovations and great ideas, hours dedicated, helping to grow your sport and making sport special for others. We want to hear about a range of volunteers.

Email your nomination and briefly (100 words) tell us why they’re a ‘champion volunteer’. Email Shannon Dixon.