From Head Office
– By Bowls Victoria Participation and Club Development Manager Scott Nicholas
If you’ve played sport, chances are you’ve volunteered in sport. And if you’ve volunteered in sport you know how hard it can be, how hard one must work, and how much time and effort often occurs with little recognition.
The Bowls Victoria Volunteer of the Year awards are back in 2016 to do just that, and provide recognition to all of the hard-working volunteers within each and every club in Victoria.
Often volunteers are modest, and even talk down their contributions to their clubs when they’re pressed on the issue.
It’s not uncommon to hear volunteers say things like, ‘I’m just doing my bit’, ‘Someone has to do it’, ‘I can’t bowl so I may as well be doing something!’ and the list goes on.
But the truth remains that as a sport we can always do more to recognise these hard-working people doing the thankless jobs that are all part of keeping our clubs afloat, and flourishing into the future.
The Volunteer of the Year awards are the opportunity for each and every club in Victoria to nominate one of their own who’s making an outstanding contribution to their club, and to the sport as a whole.
Although Bowls Victoria recognises that many volunteers have contributed to their clubs over a number of years, this award is specifically designed to recognise the work a volunteer has done within the last 12 months, and this work during this period should be highlighted within the nomination.
After Greg Ritchie of City Memorial BC Warrnambool took out the inaugural award in 2015, it’s only further highlighted the important work volunteers are doing each and every day within our sport.
We’ve continued this focus since then by featuring our volunteers at the 2015 Vic Open, during #ThankYouTuesday, giving thanks to all the volunteers who make the event such a resounding success.
So long as the sport of bowls exists, volunteers will be integral to the success of each and every one of our clubs, so we will always be looking for ways to support, develop and celebrate volunteers within our clubs.
Help us celebrate these everyday heroes as part of the 2016 Bowls Victoria Volunteer of the Year Awards, by ensuring your club nominates one of the hard-working people that make our sport what it is today.
Please click here for everything you need to know about the 2016 Bowls Victoria Volunteer of the Year Awards.