In the lead up to our 2018 Gala Awards function, the Little Athletics Victoria community was asked to submit applications for key members within their Centre who display outstanding services as a volunteer. Elisabeth McGuire was nominated for her outstanding efforts at Albury Little Athletics Centre.

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Please outline what outstanding actions and activities were undertaken by the volunteer during season 17/18, and what impact they had on the Centre.

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Elisabeth took on the role of Secretary for her second season on committee as well as the role of publicity/fundraising officer as no one would fill the roll. She was instrumental in seeing our centre receive the most publicity in the centres history, through social media, print media & the local television stations as well as radio. She drove our publicity campaign for our Open Day, which is our major yearly fundraiser for our centre. As a result we saw a record number of entries for the as well as a record number of event entries due largely to the publicity campaign that Elisabeth put in place. She also assisted in getting the online entry platform up and functional to reduce the workload for the open day.  Not only was she there for set up, Elisabeth was there packing up after everyone else had left on the event day.

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She organised and set up publicity stands in our local plazas, where the committee and athletes promoted our centre and showed a slide show that she had made to promote our centre. This resulted in many new members this season.

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Elisabeth put together 24 relay teams with another centre member and was team manager at both Region and State level. The reason Albury also had so many entries was due to the efforts Elisabeth put into organising a team bus to allow parent the opportunity for their athletes to participate at a low cost.

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Elisabeth also filled the role as team manager for Region Track and Field and State level in Melbourne. She was also instrumental in continuing to build the fantastic centre culture, by inviting all the Albury competitors for a team BBQ on the Saturday night of region where all parents and athletes combined as a centre to relax and enjoy the experience.

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Elisabeth organised a clinic with Melinda Gainsford-Taylor providing our athletes with an invaluable opportunity that are hard to get in our area, Elisabeth invited all other centres to attend and we saw athletes from as far as Mentone and many of our region centres attend.

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Elisabeth has also worked with some of our older athletes in gaining valuable sponsorship so they can continue in the sport of athletics through the pathways of Athletics Victoria (AV) and senior athletics locally by working with them on their submissions for sponsorship.

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What attributes were demonstrated by the volunteer that makes them outstanding?

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Elisabeth demonstrated an outstanding commitment to the sport of Athletics and going above and beyond her volunteering role at Centre, Region and State levels.

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She ensured that she included Wodonga Little Athletics sole State medal winner in our publicity in the local newspaper. She believes that no matter what centre you belong to every athlete deserves the recognition for their achievements and this inclusiveness should be encouraged.

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It should be noted that she arranged a family holiday to arrive back in Melbourne so that she could team manage the relay teams at State Level, all whilst her own child was not competing. Many others would not have made the effort if that had been the case.  Again reflecting her dedication to the centre and our athletes.

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She has stepped in across the season to help out where ever needed. Examples of this, she stepped in to learn the role of recorder when our regular recorders family member fell ill, to ensure that the weekly results were uploaded and finalised so end of season documents could be prepared.  At region level, she not only filled the role of team manger, she also filled parents jobs at times to ensure those parents could see their children compete when there were schedule clashes. This selflessness is an outstanding attribute.

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You will find Elisabeth is the first one setting up on a Saturday and last to leave.  During competition you will find her running our timing system. She also does this for our Open Day and our local school carnivals and has trained a new centre operator to ensure we have new volunteers coming through our centre with the skills needed to operate successfully. She assists at training on Wednesdays and is cleaning our equipment sheds & organising when needed most weeks. Most importantly, Elisabeth ensures that the values of Little Athletics are always promoted. She ensured that every athlete feels recognised, personal best’s are always celebrated and all athletes are included and celebrated for their successes every week.

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These are just a few of the notable things that Elisabeth has done that deserves recognition, whilst there are many more we know that anyone you ask would agree she would be a worthy recipient who displays consistently fantastic attributes of an outstanding volunteer.

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What learnings can other Centres and volunteers take from their actions?

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Many hands make light work. Elisabeth encouraged anyone to have a go, if you are approachable and encouraging people will follow. When more than one person gets in to help the workload is reduced so volunteering isn’t as time consuming as some think. She has demonstrated you don’t need to jump in on committee straight away, start by raking a pit, recording results

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Most of all Elisabeth demonstrated the rewards and benefits you can get from volunteering and children achieving that’s why we all volunteers in the first place to make a difference in our athletes lives. To encourage and support and help them succeed.