There is something special about the role football netball clubs play in regional communities.
From giving athletes an opportunity to showcase their sporting prowess to providing a haven for people to come and share stories and laughter.
Football netball clubs are without doubt the heartbeat of our local towns.
Over the past three days, the Mooroopna Football Netball Club proved just how powerful its platform can be, as its members came together to organise a mammoth clean-up after much of its surrounds were devastated by flooding.
Initially putting the call out on its social media channels on Wednesday, October 19, the club asked for as many hands on deck as possible to go out into town on Saturday and help as many homes and businesses as they could.
Not knowing what to expect, as many involved with the club had to deal with flood damage of their own, president Bill Dowling said he was overwhelmed by the response of the community upon opening ‘Recovery HQ’ at the Sir Ian McLennan Centre on Saturday morning.
“We had a tremendous response, with over 200 people here at 8am this morning despite the rain to volunteer,” Dowling said
“We have got over 25 groups of six to nine people heading out all over our community assisting homes and businesses with their clean-ups.
“It is a mini army of Mooroopna people out there right now just doing what they can to help.”
The Cats weren’t the first Goulburn Valley League club to orchestrate a large community clean-up during this flooding crisis, with the likes of Seymour, Rochester and Echuca among those spearheading recovery efforts.
Dowling said it was wonderful to see sporting clubs stand up and support their communities through these tough times.
“The response has been fantastic all across our region; to be honest, I’ve been blown away,” he said.
“I know Seymour has done a great job, Rochester is doing great stuff with their community and Echuca as well.
“At times like this people tend to migrate to their football netball clubs for a bit of direction and we are doing all we can to service our community during this time.”
What makes the club’s efforts to organise this clean-up effort all the more remarkable was the fact it was also affected by the flooding.
Like many sporting precincts in the Goulburn Valley, Mooroopna Recreation Reserve was completely submerged with water for days, while its neighbouring John Gray Oval still had a healthy covering of water on Saturday afternoon.
Floodwater also went into the change rooms, causing significant damage to critical equipment.
“The whole ground was flooded with the exception of the cricket pitch, so the cricketers are pretty happy,” Dowling said.
“But certainly our change rooms, gym and all that area was flooded so there is certainly a lot of cleaning up to be done on our end.
“The sole focus for us right now is helping those in town whose homes and businesses have been flooded — they are certainly more important than our footy club change rooms.”
This focus is one shared by the entire Mooroopna community, which is something Dowling said made him very proud — as both a club president and resident of the town.
“There has been a heap of footballers and netballers come through, even though some have had their own homes flooded — they have come down here to help others in a similar situation,” he said.
“But it’s not just the football netball club people, there are a huge amount of Mooroopna people, community-minded people, who have come here to lend a hand.
“It is a whole community effort and it makes me incredibly proud to watch so many people get out and lend a hand.”