Tell us a little bit about yourself?

What do I say; I moved here when I was 9 years old from St Marys and soon found sport to be the best way to make friends in town. I have played just about every sport going, some better than others. As I grew up, my love for sport increased and though being in a family of three kids I needed to decide what sport I was going to play, hockey and soccer (winter) and baseball (summer) won out. For many years Saturday was a big day, play hockey in the morning, then go home get changed and then down to the soccer fields for the afternoon shift, along way making plenty of friends, most of which I still have today. Summer was the same, spend most of the day on Saturday helping out the softball and then playing baseball on the Sunday. Soccer is a great sport and is probably one of the only sports that anyone can play, you don’t need to be the next Socceroo to have fun, trust me. Over the past 8 or so years I have become more involved in the behind the scenes stuff and have really enjoyed seeing how and what needs to be done in regards to keeping either a club or association running, and there is heaps, but at the end of the day as long as everyone is enjoying themselves while they are playing then I feel that my job is done…oh and the esky has cold beers in it….

Tell us how you first got involved in the sport of soccer (football) and what was your first involvement with the game in Parkes?

I started playing soccer as a junior many years ago with a few of my friends and just never stopped. My first involvement apart from being a player was taking on a role within the services soccer club as vice president.

What has surprised you most about the sport in Parkes?

Since being involved with local soccer I have seen a huge increase in the ladies side of things, each year we get around 18 teams all of differing skills, and of the most part everyone has fun. I think it is great to see people get involved for whatever reason, and from what I have seen, most of the ladies teams play for the “social side” of the game. If the rest of local soccer was to grow like this we have certainly achieved our goal.

What made you become involved as a committee member of the sport in Parkes?

I have played soccer in Parkes since I was a little tacker, and for those who know me, that is a long time. I have come through the ranks and feel that soccer has given me plenty of memories, some which I choose to try and forget but mostly great ones and I wanted to try and return some of those great memories by helping out where possible. I have served on the Lachlan committee for a few years now and have enjoyed that, so putting my hand up to help out with the junior side of things was only natural. I enjoy seeing the kids out having fun and getting a bit of exercise at the same time.

What do you find most challenging about your position that you hold on the committee?

The hardest thing about being on any committee is trying to please everyone, and is most cases this never happens. I aim to try and do what is best for local soccer.

What are you plans for the future of the sport in Parkes?

The current committee have a few ideas to further enhance football in Parkes. The main one is to upgrade the lights that are on ground six, by doing this we will be able to have more night games throughout our season and create better training fields as well.

We are always looking to improve the game in as many aspects as possible, and as with all sports, this starts at the bottom with our juniors. We hope that by providing training for coaches of these players, we will create a better platform from which these players can increase their skills and love of the game and also better their chances of furthering their football in the future.

In the past we have had committee members that have a great love of the game, and as the new committee members find their feet, this will hopefully continue.

Tell us a little bit about your committee you have? What roles do they play in the sport in Parkes?

We have an almost brand new committee this year, with only Kevin Medlyn and Shirley Edwards continuing their roles from last year. As with all sports it can be very hard to find people to help out with all the “behind the scenes” stuff and we are lucky that we have people willing to give up their time to ensure that football in Parkes continues to grow. The previous committee have built the sport up extremely well and we aim to keep it that way and improve as required.

What would you tell someone who was thinking about being part of the committee?

Don’t go in half hearted, take up a position which you feel you can do and will enjoy. That way at the end of the day when the jobs done you will feel that it was all worth it.

Do you follow the Hyundai A-League? If so, which team do you support?

Although I don’t follow any particular team strongly, I am a Sydney fc fan.

How do you think the Socceroos will go at the upcoming World Cup?

I think we have a really strong chance at making through the first stage but there will be plenty of great soccer played and unfortunately I don’t think we are at the level of some of the European and south American countries. But hopefully I am wrong and we get right through to the last game..