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By ALEXANDRA BULL
South Australia had five winners at the AFL National Volunteer of the Year Awards last week.
Stephanie Contin (North Gambier), Gary Sutherland (Goodwood Saints) Katy Javor (Australian Islamic College) Geoff Osborn (SANFL Junior Umpires) and Amanda Millar (Salisbury High School) all won their respective categories, earning them a recent trip at the AFL Grand Finale in Perth.
Stephanie Contin (North Gambier FC) – South Australian Community Football Volunteer of the Year
Steph is currently a member of the North Gambier Football Club committee, in addition to being a league delegate, player, coach and Auskick coordinator.
Best described as an organizational powerhouse, Steph has numerous roles both at his home club and in delegate and executive roles in three leagues: Western Border FL, Western Border Junior FL and the Limestone Coast Women’s League.
Steph is currently the secretary of the North Gambier Football Club, performing many administrative tasks such as player registrations, transfers, adjusting COVID-19 guidelines, match day coordination, clothing design and orders, the washing of the Guernsey and the creation of lists of volunteers.
Geoff Osborn has been involved in community arbitration in South Australia for almost half a century, since 1972 when he was still a teacher.
Progressing to a role as a referee coach in the 1990s, Geoff has since been a mainstay of the referee community, continually giving back to refereeing and always available to fill a match at short notice, mentor a new referee or offer refereeing. advice and support to referee groups.
“It’s a lot of fun. I really like refereeing. I enjoyed playing soccer and played around 190 games, but I still like to be involved. There is a buzz among the players and being a part of the game. Geoff told AFL.com.au
“The referees are people who love football, and that gives them a great opportunity to be a part of the game,” he said.
As the recipient of the 2021 AFL Community Referee National Award, Geoff is a valuable asset to junior referees in South Africa and has shown no signs of slowing down in the future.
Gary Sutherland (Goodwood Saints / Inclusive Sport SA) – AFL Disability Inclusion Volunteer
Gary Sutherland won the AFL Disability Inclusion Volunteer category for his work as coach of the Goodwood Saints through the SANFL Inclusive League.
Gary has been involved with the Inclusive team since his son, Tobe, joined the team in 2008.
Then, in 2014, he was approached by one of the team’s supporters – Mark Donald, on a Saturday morning to see if he could coach the game for the next morning.
It was only supposed to be for this one game, but Gary is still around nine years later, making him a deserving winner of the award.
Katy Javor’s tireless work over the past 10 years has earned her the AFL Diversity Ambassador Award.
Katy has been teaching at the Australian Islamic College for 10 years and in 2012 she made the decision to introduce sport and physical education into the school curriculum in order to stimulate the passion and enthusiasm for Australian football.
She now has a sport-specific role and has implemented a plan to bring Australian football into the school, which would be a first at Australian Islamic College.
Amanda Millar received the AFL Secondary School Ambassador Award for her work with Salisbury High School.
Amanda is a dynamic and progressive ambassador for AFL School, which has created a wide range of football programs for the children of her Disability Unit at Salisbury High School.
His continued work over the past five years has included school clinics, education, integrating soccer activities into the children’s curriculum, and using soccer as a vehicle to increase exercise and activity for children with disabilities.
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