Jan Juc caps off another year as parking stewards

ANOTHER year of carpark volunteering is in the books for the Jan Juc Cricket Club following this year’s Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach.

Club president Andrew Penton said he was proud of the efforts made by his members for again running a smooth operation at the overflow parking site at Bells Beach.

“We enjoyed it this year, we met a lot of nice people from patrons attending the event, but we had a lot of volunteers, and it all went smoothly which was really pleasing on our end,” Mr Penton said.

Jan Juc Cricket Club has co-ordinated the overflow parking of the Rip Curl Pro for almost 10 years, using the proceeds obtained from parking fees to keep the club’s operations going each season.

The club had more than 40 volunteers doing shift work over the course of the event at the parking site on the northern side of Bells Beach, led by club member Daniel Jordan and life member Phil Smith.

Mr Penton said as of Tuesday this week the club was still calculating its takings from this year’s Rip Curl Pro.

“Surf days were pretty busy, but Easter Saturday was probably the monster day that really put our volunteers under the pump, but again, many hands makes light work, and we were able to soldier on.

“It’s a big deal for us each year, the club gets well-remunerated, but it’s bloody hard work. Our volunteers work from 5am to 5pm, so while we’re extremely grateful for this task each year, it requires a lot of commitment.”

He said the club continued to have a good rapport with Surfing Victoria, World Surfing League, and the resident of the land the parking takes place on; Bob Johnson.