Shepparton Swans Football Netball Club president Jarrod Sutherland said he saw community spirit at its absolute best on Saturday evening as people from far and wide made their way down to Princess Park to help the club prepare for flooding.
Situated a stone’s throw away from the rapidly rising Goulburn River, the club’s facilities were right in the firing line as water gushed over and submerged the Princess Park complex from late Saturday night into the early hours of Sunday morning.
The scene as the sun rose on Sunday was devastating, with water as far as the eye could see. But according to Sutherland, the situation could have been much worse if not for the helping hand of the wider Shepparton community.
“We went down to the club yesterday just trying to clear stuff out, put things as high as we could and save our valuables from the rooms, which we managed to do,” Sutherland said on Sunday.
“The help we got in that process was incredible. Last night in particular, we had people come and help from other clubs to ensure we were able to get everything in order.
“And members of the general public as well — Ben Anderson, a tree specialist, happened to be around the area and lent his truck to help the process.
“It was such a wonderful community effort and very moving from our point of view to be so well supported by our community.”
After a restless night worrying about the state of the club, Sutherland was at Princess Park at the crack of dawn on Sunday to assess the damage.
With water continuing to rise, he gave a description of what impact the flooding would have on the Swans’ clubrooms and other facilities.
“The ground is now fully underwater, the changerooms are full of water and the water is just on the edge of the front of the clubrooms,” he said.
“Obviously it’s coming over the levy bank and in a couple of hours the clubrooms will start getting water, and if the height of the levy bank is an indicator it will fill up about half of the rooms.
“So now our attention turns to the clean-up and what we will have to replace, which is disappointing. The impact of the flooding will be quite long-lasting, I think.”
If recent history is anything to go by, the clean-up will be a long and arduous one for all involved with Shepparton Swans.
Traralgon Football Netball Club, in the Latrobe Valley east of Melbourne, serves as a confronting example of the effects of flooding on a regional sporting complex, after water engulfed its facilities as the town flooded in June last year.
The oval, clubrooms and changing rooms were all ruined, and the residual effect of the floodwater meant it took the club 11 months to be able to host a match again.
A similar scenario now presents as a frightening possibility for Shepparton Swans — but, according to Sutherland, a large portion of the potential could have been avoided had the club received a much-needed upgrade to its clubrooms.
“Our clubrooms are old anyway and we have been pushing hard to try and get new clubrooms, and if that did happen, this (flooding) wouldn’t be an issue because they would be built higher,” he said.
“The clubrooms are built of timber — they are going to be buckled. The wall is plaster and the carpets will be no good, so there will be a lot of cost involved in getting them back up to being useable.
“The positive is we have a bit of time on our side to clean it up with football and netball season being so far away, but overall it is a very disappointing situation to be in.”