Backing local champions. - neafl

neafl article
By Lucy Hinchey
BELCONNEN’S
100 CLUB
On the back of the
Belconnen Football
Club celebrating
its 40th anniversary,
Belconnen held their
one-hundred-game
dinner last weekend.
The club inducted five players
into their record books;
Third grader’s Heath Axelby
and Sam Danaher, Fourth
Grader’s Jeremy Walker
and Glenn Horsburgh and
Woman’s league player Mercia
Smith were all honoured for
having made their 100-game
milestone this year.
Smith has been at the Magpies
for ten years and believes the
fact that Belconnen recognises
milestones such as these and
for the ladies in the Woman’s
league it’s a great thing to
aspire to.
“It’s a milestone that not many
females that play football
would reach and I guess for me
… it’s good that the club has
these milestones ... so even if
you play football just for the
fun of it, it’s a milestone you
can reach without having to
be the best in the team or play
representative football,” Smith
said.
Smith, like so many others
at Belconnen, says she has
stayed with the Magpies
for a decade because of the
friendships she has built at the
club. “It’s a really great club to
be a part of,” Smith said.
Smith acknowledges that
without the support of the
Belconnen club, playing
woman’s football
would not be as
enjoyable.
“There is a lot of support
by the club which
you don’t often get in a
lot of female sports…
they involve the girls in
all their functions and
the support they give
the guys they try and
give the girls as well. But
just having a coach,
a trainer and a manager that
the club supports in their roles,
really makes being a player
easy and it makes showing up
and doing what you can easy as
well,” Smith said.
In other club news,
Belconnen have
launched their ‘Kick
in 4 Kippax’
fundraiser.
The club is looking
for larger sponsors
to donate to the Club
for help in making
the new Kippax Oval
just that little more
professional.
As a part of the redevelopment,
the club will receive a
new ground, dressing sheds,
canteen & kitchen facilities,
medical rooms and offices.
All of which will be funded by
the government. However,
there are many things which
the grant does not include:
coaches boxes and electronic
score boards for example will
need to be funded by the club
itself.
So get on board and chip in
to make your club the best it
can be.
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Mercia Smith (right) receives her 100 Game mug
from Alice Broughton (left)