Name: Bev Gallager
Age: 50
Club/Association: Southern Districts Netball Association
Role: Association Development Officer
Give us a snap shot of what your volunteering role(s) consists of:
My role as ADO is to give players and coaches of all levels and all abilities at Southern Districts Netball Association opportunities to play netball.
This includes the organisation of Suncorp NetSetGo programs, school holiday programs, NAIDOC teams, Boys teams, No Limits Netball programs and teams, Association Representative Teams, State Cup teams, Metro League teams as well as Talent ID programs and coaching courses.
I also still volunteer to Coach for Zodiacs Netball club at our Association and help out where ever I can.
Why did you start volunteering, or the specific role of ADO?
I started volunteering at about the age of 15 when I started coaching for the club I belonged to. I was inspired by the wonderful coach I had at the time – Jill McIntosh, and the opportunities that she and the club provided for me as a player, I wanted to give back to the younger players in the club and hopefully provide similar opportunities to them and others.
What do you love most about volunteering?
Working as ADO since 2013 and I took the job for the same reasons, to give back. I love my job and want to give our players as many opportunities as possible to play netball and achieve their goals, whether that is trying Netball for the first time or helping our talented players achieve at the highest level.
It’s a great feeling to see our players enjoying Netball with big smiles on their faces and it gives me great pride to see our players go on to achieve great things in the Netball world and to think I may have contributed to that in a little way.
How has being a volunteer benefitted you?
Volunteering has given me and my family so much, a sense of belonging and being part of a community. Being a volunteer makes me happy, it fills my heart to meet new people that I can help play netball and many of the people I have meet volunteering at netball have become dear friends.
What piece of advice would you like to pass on to new or current volunteers?
Volunteering can be challenging but also very rewarding and no matter how much of your time you give, every volunteer makes a difference.
Every organisation needs volunteers, it can be really fun, and you make a difference to the community. You may give up your time but you gain so much more in return.
Interested in getting involved with Volunteering? Click here for more info.
