Every under-18 footballer, along with the members of the under-15 and under-17 netball teams, will receive a $300 voucher from SportsPower in Rochester.
Rob Aitken, who is the co-ordinator of the luncheon, announced the decision of the club to ease the financial strain on parents of the under age footballers and netballers at the end of Friday’s luncheon.
Almost 200 people gathered at the Royal Melbourne Hotel for the event, which has a six-year history and attracts former players and officials, along with long-time supporters and sponsors.
The $12,000-plus contribution was raised through the auction of a five per cent share in a racehorse, through the donation of a Melbourne Racing Club package by chairman Matt Kane and a series of generous donations from Rodney former player and Melbourne realtor “Bluey’’ Callahan.
Friday’s luncheon attracted some famous names from football circles, including Carlton legend Geoff Southby, Essendon and Hawthorn champion Paul Salmon and Carlton president Luke Sayers, who was guest speaker at the event.
Mr Aitken said every year the club decided on a direction for profits from the event and this year, due to the difficult nature of the season, it had decided to support the under age players.
Through this year’s Shout a Membership campaign all footballers and netballers had their playing fees covered by the club, while the Tigers were also the benefactor of support from Worksafe when it hosted a round of the organisation’s Country Club Game.
Club president Justin Cleary and his committee have focussed this year on the ‘recovery and reconnect’ theme which has enabled the club to achieve great things off the field, while struggling to produce the results on game day.
There was, however, a strong message that the club’s current 11th ranking on the Goulburn Valley ladder would not be for long as plans were put in place for a return to the top of the ladder for 2024.
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