Rod recognised for his dedication to footy club

ROD Smith says helping out at your local sporting club is one of the best things you can do in life.

And after volunteering with the Portarlington Demons Football Club for more than 50 years, he is speaking from experience.

Mr Smith was presented with a Community Award at a recent Portarlington Business Development Association (PDBA) function in appreciation of his years of generous and outstanding service to the community of Portarlington.

PBDA president John Rae said he was delighted when Rod was the choice for the 2018 Community Award.

“Rod totals 53 years of involvement and commitment with our football club, which is amazing,” Mr Rae said.

“The football/netball club is vital to Portarlington youth, and it’s volunteers like Rod that ensures it will continue.”

Mr Smith said he started volunteering at the football club back in the mid 60s when it was still in the Polwarth league.

“Mum would get me to do the raffle around the ground in those days and when I wasn’t doing that a group of us would do the old scoreboard in front of the old change rooms, and then it moved to the other side of the ground on top of a little tin shed,” Mr Smith said.

“You were somewhat important if you were doing the scoreboard.”

Mr Smith said after a short break he came back and helped Don Whelan run training, which gave him great insight into the other side of football.

“After a few years with Don I started running th water for the ones and was the runner for the twos,” he said.

“In all that I became great friends with Stewart Renfrey and of a Sunday he taught me how to work the bar at the footy club and in a little while I was helping out doing the 4pm to 8pm shift of a Sunday, which went on for 10 years.”

Mr Smith said he was on the football club committee for two stints, the first time for about five years and a few years later for about eight years.

He said that then again after a short time away he came back to help out strapping players on week nights and on Saturdays to help out trainers who sometimes had work commitments, and that he was still doing that to this day.

“Besides all that a few of us put a free feed on for the players of a Tuesday night, which they really
appreciate,” he said.

Mr Smith estimated he spent a minimum 12-hour day at the club during home games, and spent a nine-hour day helping out during away games.

“You meet so many great people through sport and make life long friends out of it,” he said.

On top of his work with the football club Mr Smith has also volunteered with Bellarine Community Health for the past three years, driving a small bus picking up men that go to a planned activity group who aren’t able to drive anymore.

And lastly, while he lives in Bali for four months of the year, goes to an orphanage around Christmas time and spends a day with the children.

“I dress up as Santa and give presents to all the children there on the day and we leave enough gifts for the children at their orphanage in another part of Bali,” he said.

“I think giving something to these kids just helps them out just that little bit.”