As you sit down tonight to watch these finely-developed young Queenslanders playing at the hallowed Colosseum of Lang Park, do not forget from where they came.
They emerged out of the small football clubs created in our local communities. They played on fields mowed by our Dads, and changed in club houses made of Besser brick and tin by a local council.
The more I listen to my local community, the more I see how important junior sports clubs are to our community.
Junior sports clubs are where we build what we are now calling “social capital”. This is where we see Mums and Dads meeting other parents, and learning to work together, and building a club to support their kids’ dreams of playing for Queensland.
Families lead such busy lives these days. We work longer and harder than just about any other developed nation. We don’t go to church anymore: we can barely organise ourselves to take the DVDs back on time.
But Mums and Dads will sacrifice their weekends and drive for hours so their child can play a sport for their local team. They will change their shifts so they can mark the lines and staff the canteen.
These parents and volunteers are the people who are building something bigger in our communities. If they put up their hands and say they need help, we need to hear them and act.
And they need help from Council. In fact, I’m wondering if supporting junior sport is one of the most important things we do as a Council.
We need to help these volunteers maintain their fields, and make sure these local community clubs have the best possible (and least embarrassing) facilities to house their children.
Take the Burpengary Jets Junior Rugby League Club for example. This year they have 26 teams, housed in a basic building featuring two change rooms and about four extensions.
In contrast to other big junior clubs, they do not have a mighty, pokie-filled senior rugby league club next door. What they have built, they have built themselves.
The Burpengary Jets have put their hand up and asked for help. Redcliffe Dolphins, Caboolture Sports Club and local businesses have heard and helped with sponsorship.
In the last budget of the Caboolture Shire Council, we allocated $250,000 to help build a better club facility. So far, nothing has yet happened.
I believe Council needs to focus on creating better facilities for local sporting clubs throughout our communities.
We do not need to create Lang Park style stadiums. We need to do the right thing by the young players, proud in their oversized jerseys, and by the parents who opened their wallets to buy those jerseys.
As you watch those mighty Maroon jerseys churn up the field at Lang Park tonight, remember that most of them were created at clubs like the Burpengary Jets. Remember they were forged by the ranks of Mums and Dads who stood at the side line each winter to cheer them and watch them.
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