Sunshine
Coast Daily assistant editor and longtime sports writer Paul Munnings
reports on the latest move to build the profile of a possible State
League team on the north coast...
AFL Queensland
will launch a Sunshine Coast Hall of Fame in June, as momentum builds
for a possible re-birth of a local state league team.
Shane Johnson, a
former prominent Sunshine Coast football identity who is conducting a
12-month AFLQ feasibility study on the future of the code in this
region, yesterday confirmed a Hall of Fame dinner for Saturday, June 26,
at Maroochydore RSL.
It will celebrate
40 years of Sunshine Coast football since its birth in 1970 and see
about 130 people recognised for their contribution to the game, with a
small number of standouts awarded legend status.
According to
Johnson, inclusion in the Hall of Fame would be on the basis of
outstanding service and overall contribution to Australian football on
the Sunshine Coast. This could cover players, umpires, coaches,
volunteers, school teachers and media.
The person’s
individual record, ability, integrity, sportsmanship and character will
be considered.
People who have
left the region and made a name at higher levels of the game will also
be considered
The selection
panel includes Bart Jaques, Lyndsay Halson, Rocco Pirrotina, Pater
Lavery, Paul Tresise and Shane Johnson, in consultation with Mark
Kennedy, Wes Parry, Len Daddow, Noel Radke, David Moles, Kingsley St
Clair, Doug Hills, Doug Murray and Bill Magin, plus the Pomona and
Gympie football clubs.
Hall of Fame
inductees are expected to be advised of their selection early next
month, and Johnson is confident of securing a big AFL celebrity to
present the inductions.
If a new Sunshine
Coast state league team is formed, then all Hall of Fame members would
probably be granted life member status, he said.
Johnson, who
launched his state league feasibility study last November, said he had
been “really encouraged” by the response from people throughout the
region.
“The initial
reaction has been tremendously positive, but now it’s a case of turning
enthusiasm into concrete plans and formulating a mechanism via which we
can address the issue of perhaps reinvigorating a state league team on
the Coast,” he said.
“The Hall of Fame
is an important part of this process whereby we get everyone from Gympie
to Caloundra on the same page, building a tradition and spirit which
encapsulates the entire region.
“The other thing
we need to do if a state league team is going to get off the ground is
drive some financial support, because the team isn’t going to run
itself.”
Johnson said the
journey to establish the Hall of Fame had prompted countless funny
stories, but he recounted fondly the day when state league football
first came to the Sunshine Coast on Saturday, March 7, 1970.
“As legend has it,
Mayne and Morningside, QAFL heavyweights at the time, played a
promotional match at the Cooroy Showground and they used freshly cut
saplings as goalposts,” he said.
“The ground had
sagging power lines over it and often the ball would hit them, bringing a
loud call of ‘play on’ from the umpires.
“A local rugby
league supporter must have been worried by the intrusion of a rival
code, because he flew a light plane over the ground during the game and
dropped flour bombs on to the arena.”
Caloundra
(1989-90) and Maroochydore (1998-99) played briefly in the AFLQ state
league but folded because they failed to generate sufficient support
from all sections of the Sunshine Coast.
Last Modified on 30/03/2010 13:33