COUNTRY WEEK BASKETBALL
By Dave Roberts
Eight courts, 38 minute games
running 40 minutes apart for 16 hours a day, literally
hundreds of young people. If you haven't seen this
before, they ARE playing for cattle stations.
I've just got back from my first trip
to country week, and you have to know this, it's
a fat time. I travelled up with a bunch of 14 and
15 year old guys who had stepped up to play representative
sport, and for my boy at least, it was his first
chance. The event ran extremely smoothly, given
that there were hundreds of sweaty, competitive,
and serious youngsters in the venue.
The volunteers were one of the highlights
for me. First aid post dealing with a ceaseless
flow of pain and disappointment, referees dealing
with games that were being taken as the big league,
coaches desperate to get the best from the players,
and officials with the task of holding it all together.
One amazing fact was that I saw almost no ugly parent
syndrome surface at all.
All of this is great for the kids,
and I had a good time too. It just wouldn't happen
without the volunteers. I've picked one to highlight
what goes into it. Mark Anderson coached the under
16 men's team for the Wellington Basketball Association.
He doesn't have any young blokes and he's got plenty
to do, with a new family, including a baby on the
way, a growing business, and responsibilities as
the President of the South West Slammers SBL team.
About 14 young blokes showed up to
the outside Eaton courts to work out for 90 minutes
late last year. Mark has played SBL and he knows
what to look for. For the most part he didn't see
it. What he did see was a bunch of guys giving what
they had, and being a believer in giving what you
have, he stayed with them. Week after week in late
2001 the team turned up and went at it, and week
after week Mark could be heard saying "No,
No, No, think about what you're doing, commit yourself".
A carnival in late 2001, a break over
Christmas, and they're back at it. Mark's still
running Anderson Master Painters, still involved
in the Slammers, and still turning up at the courts
on the weekend and coaching a bunch of someone else's
kids. Why does someone make these commitments. I've
looked at lots of these volunteers, and they seem
to have some things in common:
- They believe that what they're doing is worth
it, that the people on whom the energy is expended
are a valuable crew. Sometimes this isn't what
the society around them is saying, but they're
there anyway.
- They believe that the vehicle they're using
can do the job. In this case that junior sport
can really do something for the guys on the
team.
- They've got at least some flexibility in their
other commitments. This includes support from
the family (gidday Noelene), and think how many
of the real givers are either pensioners or
business people. In Mark's case, this flexibility
involves being able to paint way into the night
some times, and to set time aside for the team
when they all need it.
At South West Life we celebrate the
things that make life in the region such a good
thing. Junior sport is one of them, and to celebrate
that, you have to pay your respects to the volunteers
who make it all run. Country week couldn't happen
without coaches, officials, refs, and first aiders.
Every time I do business I'm looking for someone
who supports my community in this way.
So... how did the young blokes go?
They went up there as a small team, and without
the experience that some others had. Every one of
them ran their hearts out whenever they got a chance,
and spent time on the bench graciously. All of them
showed the stuff heroes are made of.
April 2002
