By Adam Baldwin
Springvale Dandenong Leader
10.12.2012
USUALLY when a body cuts out the grog, it loses mass. But when the Sandown Cobras did, they expanded.
In 2008 the club was on life support. Weeks out from Round 1 it had single digits on the track and little hope.
But almost five years on it has more than 100 players on its books, with four senior teams and only a few kicks short of another premiership trophy.
This month the Cobras were named a regional winner of the Australian Drug Foundation Good Sport Award. It is the second time the club have received the gong.
The award is presented to clubs who go above and beyond to promote the responsible service of alcohol to create a safe and family-friendly environment.
Alcohol is a major component of Australian sporting history and bar takings are often crucial to the viability of grassroots clubs. But Cobras community development manager and former president Lew Short said a focus on responsible service of alcohol is a small sacrifice crucial to the culture change responsible for leading his club out of the darkness.
“If you can get your culture right you can attract people and that is one of the things we have worked on over the last four to five years,” Short said.
“It’s a happy club, it’s a family orientated club and we try and do the right thing and ensure people enjoy their stay at the club and we continue to grow the club.”
Initiatives such as reducing bar opening hours, increasing the availability of food and developing a social marketing campaign on responsible drinking to educate its members are some of the measures the Cobras have taken.
“The alcohol is always going to be there, people like to drink, but our Thursday nights are more of a soft drink night,” Short said.
“We have more outsourced functions and a variety of new functions, with different ideas so you don’t have to rely on the bar to make money.”
Also key to the club’s turnaround has been investing in the community.
Every year the club holds a ‘Disability Day’ for more than 300 children in the City of Greater Dandenong.
It has run clinics in multicultural schools, has its own netball affiliate and this year a team in the Football Integration Development Association League (FIDA) for the first time.
“It stamps our club as what it represents – disability, multiculturalism and family,” Short said.
The club’s transformation has allowed it to establish a link with the Parkmore Junior Football Club that will go a long way to ensuring its long-term success.
“I think the improved culture has brought a lot of people to the club,” Short said.
In 2011 the club made the finals for the first time since 2004 and this year it was the runner-up in the Division 3 grand final.
The 2013 campaign has already begun in earnest and Short said the club was looking to recruit some tall timber in its bid to win its first flag since 1997.
Last Modified on 20/12/2012 10:11