Volunteer of the Year

VOLUNTEER OF THE YEAR PROGRAM

The AFL State Volunteer of the Year Program is a volunteer recognition program that is part of the legacy of the 150 year celebrations in 2008. The program which commenced as part of the Australian Football 150 years celebration rewards seven outstanding volunteers with a trip of lifetime for them and a partner.

Each club, league or association is invited to nominate an outstanding volunteer as an AFL State Volunteer of the Year. The volunteer may have contributed to the completion of a major or significant project throughout the year or they may be someone who has contributed in a number of roles over a long period.

The 2016 AFL NSW/ACT Volunteer of the Year winner is NEIL DUNN.

Neil has won:

• 2 x tickets to the Toyota AFL Grand Final (GFAFL15/70)

• 2 x return flights & accommodation for 3 nights (Thurs – Sat) in Melbourne for Toyota AFL Grand Final weekend (except Victoria)

• The opportunity to walk in the Toyota AFL Grand Final Parade

It was Neil’s vision that saw the proposal for a renewed junior competition within the Tamworth AFL spawn, and late in 2015 his efforts that drew together a number of interested parties to see the formation of a working group to transition that proposal into a reality.

Since then, Neil has been the driving force in that group becoming a steering committee to create the 2016 junior competition, seeing four teams compete across the breadth of the local football community. This has also grown to create a number of pathways for talented local juniors to test themselves against a stronger quality of player and advance their footballing experience.

Significantly, Neil has been able to manage a number of competing interests in that time, focusing the different Clubs, each with a very different make up of playing strength in their junior ranks, to see that widespread participation remains the cornerstone of the junior competition in its infancy.

His devotion and hard work has seen the competition work through a number of teething issues in the early days, to now see up to sixty local children playing football. This is a reality that was not long ago seen as an impossibility.

The 2016 League Volunteer of the Year winners are:

AFL Broken Hill	Joe Vidorin
AFL Canberra	Scott Reid
AFL Canberra – Juniors	Michael Smith
AFL North Coast	Donna Lynch
AFL North Coast Juniors	Paul Mance
AFL South Coast Illawarra Juniors	Jason Kopke
AFL South Coast Senior	Rod Richards
AFL Sydney	Brian and Lorraine Cloney
Farrer Football League	Shane Mannes
Hume Football League	Fran Jones
Riverina Football League	Blair Campbell
AFL Sydney Juniors	Andrew Miedler
Wagga & District Junior Australian Football Association	Kevin Driscoll
Tamworth AFL	Neil Dunn
South West Junior Football League	Dallas McKelvie
Sapphire Coast AFL	Luke Moresi
Northern Riverina Football League	Jim Davis
Black Diamond AFL	Ken & Annette Garland
AFL South Coast Shoalhaven Junior League	Tim Forrester
AFL Hunter Coast	John Fitter
AFL Hunter Coast	Terry West

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How it works

Each club is encouraged to select a volunteer of the year and nominated the them for the Volunteer of the Year award program.

There are two awards:

Volunteer of the Year for outstanding service to the sport.

Merit Award for 10 years + outstanding service to the sport.

The League or Association will evaluate the nominations received within their region and will determine the League Volunteer of the Year.

AFL NSW/ACT then evaluates each League Volunteer of the Year recipient and determines the State Volunteer of the Year.

What the nominated volunteers receive

All nominated volunteers will receive a certificate and a $50 Coles/Myers gift card.

League winners will receive a certificate and a $200 Coles/Myers Gift card, a plague and nominated into the NSW State Volunteer of the Year.

The NSW State Volunteer of the Year will receive a certificate as well as:

• 2 x tickets to the Toyota AFL Grand Final (GFAFL15/70)

• 2 x return flights & accommodation for 3 nights (Thurs – Sat) in Melbourne for Toyota AFL Grand Final weekend (except Victoria)

• The opportunity to walk in the Toyota AFL Grand Final Parade

How to nominate

Nominations for Volunteer of the Year opens on the All clubs are invited to put forward one nomination for Volunteer of the Year. The selection criteria for the award is below.

1. Must have given notable voluntary service to Australian Football.

2. Must be a willing, voluntary contributor, having received no income from football (NB honoraria excepted).

3. Must be an ambassador for the game of football who acts and works for the best interest of the game, never bringing the game into disrepute.

4. Those making nominations should make no more than one nomination.

5. Years of service will be looked upon favourably.

6. Previous winners are ineligible.

You can nominate a volunteer online by clicking here and filling in the nomination form or by downloading the nomination form below.

NSW ACT Volunteer of the Year – Nomination Form

For more information please contact Jacinta Houston on (02) 8333 8014 or via email on jacinta.houston@afl.com.au