WALLY Warner is the first Sportsmans Warehouse Volunteer of the Month Award winner.
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The Tamworth athletics coach has been guiding young athletes for many years, without charging anything but their effort and commitment.
Sportsmans Warehouse’s Bob Barber took great delight in handing Wally a $150 Sportsmans Warehouse voucher last Saturday morning.
“He deserves it for the many years of volunteer service he’s put in with the kids,” Barber said.
“We’ve been thinking about this for a while,” he said of the monthly award where deserving people linked to sporting associations and clubs receive some recognition as well as a financial reward for all their hard work.
“You see a lot of people doing all the work behind the scenes or coaching like Wally,” he said.
“They all do it for nothing. So we just want to give them this award $150 voucher) so they can come in here and use it for something they need.
“I’ve known Wally for many years and he’s never taken a cent for coaching the kids.
“I actually went and bought him a starter’s gun to use with his training .
“But we are looking for people like Wally, whether they are coaches or people in the club working .
“We just need to say thank you sometimes.
“It can be any sport too – netball, softball, soccer or football.”
While Sportsmans Warehouse has that monthly award in place, the Department of Sport and Recreation also has “volunteer awards”.
Sport and Recreation are inviting sports clubs and associations to nominate their most outstanding members for their Winter Volunteer Sporting Spirit Awards.
The awards include a youth category for volunteers under 25 years old as well as an open category, and is only open to organisations in Armidale, Glen Innes, Gunnedah, Guyra, Gwydir, Inverell, Liverpool Plains, Moree, Narrabri, Tamworth, Tenterfield, Uralla and Walcha.
The volunteers must also have been serving between March and October this year to qualify.
Nominations must include a 150-word statement on why the nominee is the most deserving in the region.
To nominate someone or for more information, go to https://sportandrecreation.nsw.gov.au/clubs/volunteeraward
