Champion volunteers

This article appears in the June 2010 edition of Sportshorts.

Profiling the efforts of sporting volunteers in NSW

Lancelot Yu

Current volunteer roles:

• Sydney Women’s Australian Football League Committee Member
• Sydney Women’s Australian Football League Webmaster
• Wollongong Saints Club Rep at the Sydney Women’s Australian Football League Committee
• Sydney Women’s Australian Football League Umpire
• Bondi Shamrocks Women’s Team Manager
• NSW Youth Girls Under 15's representative coach

Years volunteering to sport
6 years

Why do you volunteer?
I thought I could make a difference with my skills to the sport that I love. The volunteers in any sport are the heart and soul of the organisation, whether it's canteen duty, washing jumpers or team management. I’m always amazed by seeing many men and women in our league put in countless hours "behind the scenes" often without recognition or reward.

How many hours a week do you dedicate?
It must be close to 20 hours, but I'm probably thinking it’s a lot more than that! I can write my Saturday's off during the football season doing either umpiring, team managing, the associated administration and the match reports for the league website. www.swafl.org

How do you juggle other commitments and volunteering?
As a current full-time university student transitioning from a Human Resources Career to Teaching, I find time management is crucial. It doesn't mean I'm successful at it all the time, but some careful planning is required. Next year, depending on where my employer is located, my commitments may have to be wound back at both the league and club level.

What’s been your most rewarding moment?
One of my highlights was at last year's league awards dinner where unexpectedly players from across the league congratulated me on the stories and photos on the league's website. They said it was one of the reasons they looked forward to logging on the computer at work on Monday mornings. It makes it worthwhile to know that people are enjoying the work I put in.

What’s not so good about volunteering?
Probably the long hours in mundane administrative items that, in theory sound easy, but take a long time to accomplish.

How important is the club / sport to you?
Basically I view summer as the interlude between football seasons. I love Aussie Rules from the elite level of AFL to the grassroots football of juniors and leagues like ours. The Bondi Shamrocks Women’s Team, which is the club I am associated with, is also great to be part of. The club has many Irish women from a Gaelic Football background and also some women from other countries such as Germany who have never seen an oval shaped ball before. A good time is had by all, but tempered by the realisation that we compete with Australian women who have grown up with the game. The sport is a fantastic opportunity to meet new people and make new friends.

What do you think is the key to getting more volunteers?
I think a mentoring approach by the older committee members might be worthwhile whilst the new committee member transitions their way in. Often new committee members are thrown in the deep end with a "sink or swim" approach. Most committee members know when they feel exhausted and don't want to continue the following year. Before existing committee members retire, they should identify new talent and give the potential volunteer some exposure to make them feel comfortable.