The Tamworth AFL community will remember Jacob Vallender on Saturday in a way that best represents the junior Rooster - by helping others.
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No. 1 Oval will host four games of footy with both the Tamworth Roosters in the juniors and the Kangaroos in the seniors taking to the field for the Jacob Vallender Heart Foundation Memorial Round.
The club will raise money and awareness for the Heart Foundation in memory of Jacob who passed away in 2019 from a heart attack caused by hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.
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It is a disease that thickens the heart muscles making it harder for the heart to work.
The senior teams will also be wearing Roosters socks in memory of Jacob.
"It is only fitting that the club comes together to raise awareness of heart disease," Kangaroos president Brett Douglas said.
"The Vallender family are such an intrinsic part of the Roosters and Kangaroos AFC and it is great [after COVID] to have an opportunity to remember Jacob here at No. 1 Oval. To remember him in such a positive way with the footy and cricket community."
Kangaroos secretary Bridget Galvin added: "Jacob and the Vallender family are extremely humble. They would never want it to be a big thing about glory and that's part of the legacy that Jacob's left with us. The focus is on preventing this happening to other families."
Kangaroos liaison officer and long-time club person Sarah Dadd has been touched by heart disease in a number of ways.
She said it's "Australia's number one killer" and is often avoidable.
"My husband [Jon] had a triple bypass and if he hadn't acted on the signs and actually gone to the hospital he probably would have had a heart attack," Dadd said.
"It's not only just about raising awareness but people need to know the signs and act on them.
"There's a lot of fantastic support out there that the heart foundation does."
The Roosters socks will be available to purchase for $10 a pair while the club will be running a raffle and there will also be a donation tin with all proceeds going to the Heart Foundation.
Anyone who isn't able to make it on the day can donate to JV's Big Heart Fundraiser.
There is also plenty of information on heart disease on the Heart Foundation website.
Ben Jaffrey
Ben is a content curator and journalist for The Land. He has been with ACM since 2015 and first worked at The Area News and then at the Northern Daily Leader. Ben first joined ACM Agri as a digital journalist for all seven agricultural mastheads in 2022 before shifting to The Land full-time in 2023.
Ben is a content curator and journalist for The Land. He has been with ACM since 2015 and first worked at The Area News and then at the Northern Daily Leader. Ben first joined ACM Agri as a digital journalist for all seven agricultural mastheads in 2022 before shifting to The Land full-time in 2023.
