Sporting change for the Mid West

Caroline Rowcroft accepts her award from sponsor Jeremy Pepper, Youngs Motors Manager Jeremy Pepper, who said: “Sport is a massive part of our community and we are happy to get involved and support, because without volunteers like Caroline, our sporting clubs can’t run as well as they do. We love supporting our local sporting community.”

Caroline Rowcroft is on board for sports in the Mid West.

With her time invested into many board and committee positions, she is paving the way for community-driven outcomes in the region’s sports sector.

She’s the Secretary-Registrar for Serpents Water Polo Club, the Murchison Hockey Club President, Treasurer and all-rounder, a Geraldton Surf Life Saving Club board member and Youth Director, the John Willcock College board chair, Community Voice for the Mid West Cancer Centre and a lead Fundraiser for Cancer Council and the McGrath Foundation.

“I enjoy being part of the strategic direction of clubs, associations and organisations – your club may not be moving in the right direction to be sustainable in the future and this is where real changes can be made,” Caroline said.

“It takes passion for the sport but also a good understanding of how the club runs, the finances keeping the club alive and a willingness to get things done, and it’s so exciting when you work as a team and see things really take shape and positive changes made.

“It’s about what you can do to help your club move forward, because it’s helping our whole community move forward as well, so I take great pride in the fact that I am able to get involved.”

As part of the Geraldton Guardian Mid West Sports Awards last year, Caroline took out the Young Motors Administrator of the Year Award, which she recently collected.

“I admit I was a bit embarrassed to be nominated for this award because, like most volunteers, we don’t do it for the recognition, we just do it because someone has to do it,” Caroline said.

“I take my hat off to all people who volunteer for the various Mid West sports clubs and associations because it’s a lot of work, and if you don’t have the volunteer base, clubs can’t run.”
Recently, the Geraldton Surf Life Saving Club hosted the 2018 SLSWA SunSmart Country Carnival, which Caroline was heavily involved in. The event saw a swell of more than 600 participants to Geraldton, from out of town.

“Events like the Country Carnival definitely give our local sports teams something to work towards and our whole region a boost for tourism,” she said.

“So many people visited and stayed in town who have never been here before. We had clubs coming up from as far as Albany to participate.

“Next time we host an event, we’ll be able to share this sort of information and promote our club, sport and community.”

By collecting this sort of data through the Mid West Sports Federation’s Mid West Sports Tourism Project, clubs and associations will have a valuable, statistic-based resource to help them promote future events, leverage funding and raise the profile of sports in the Mid West.

As part of the Project, the Mid West Sports Federation is calling on all Mid West sports clubs and associations to get involved. If you have a major event coming up, the Federation want work with you to capture data about the impact your event has on the local sports tourism sector.

Remember, your club or association could win a $500 sports equipment voucher from the Mid West store of your choice, just for participating in our Project!