West Australian Football

East Perth Football Club life member and volunteer Barney Solomon has been with the Royals for 45 years and at the age of 86 still gives his time to the club.

Mr Solomon was a cobbler by trade before he retired – a job which led him to the club.

Volunteers are the backbone of our great game, and underpin our competitions and environments throughout football in our state. Since the mid 80’s, the West Australian Football Commission has made "Volunteer Award" presentations to recognise those who have given long-term voluntary service to Australian Football at all levels.

In recent years these awards have formalized into the RAC WA Football Volunteer of the Year Award, now in its fourth year the prestigious award has been adopted nationally by the AFL.

The RAC has entered into a long term, grass roots partnership with the WA Football Commission to sponsor the “Make your Mark” Volunteer & Club Development programme.

Volunteers are an integral part of the WA football community, with more than 46,000 people from 484 clubs giving their time and effort every week to ensure that football continues to grow across the state.

The RAC sponsorship of covers the following areas:

• The ‘Volunteer of the Year’ Programme
• The RAC Roadshow
• The Volunteer and Club Development Programme
• The Volunteer and Club Resource Programme
  

The ‘Volunteer of the Year’ programme is an award scheme that gives volunteers the opportunity to be acknowledged for going above and beyond the call of duty to support the WA football community. The programme has been so successful in WA that it has now been taken up nationally.

The support provided by the RAC will ensure that all volunteers and clubs have equal access to essential resources, such as educational materials, management workshops and support staff.

By working with the WA Football Commission to sponsor the ‘Make your Mark’ Volunteer and Club Development programme, the RAC is committed to supporting and celebrating the people who regularly volunteer their time to support their local football community at all levels. Football often provides an important platform for the community to come together and build on values such as social wellbeing, community pride and identity. The RAC is proud to support the valuable contribution that volunteers bring to the local football community every week, from the person who supplies the oranges to the local Club President. This is just one way that the RAC is making a positive difference to the people of WA by investing in stronger communities.

To celebrate the partnership between the RAC and the WA Football Commission, all RAC members will receive a discounted gate entry price of $9 including a copy of the Football Budget to WAFL games.