Susan Templeman (Macquarie, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

If you have raised children in the Springwood-Winmalee area in the Blue Mountains in my electorate of Macquarie over the last 50 years, chances are you have had at least one season with the Springwood United Football Club. On Saturday night, players past and present celebrated the 50th season for Springwood soccer. Like many community football clubs, this one was started by a bunch of parents, and of course it has continued season in, season out thanks to the volunteer time of parents and community members.

Since 1968, Springwood United Football Club has added netball and even had darts at one time. The clubhouse was built, the lights went up and the grandstand was added. But, as every parent who has stood at Summerhayes Park through freezing games and even colder training nights—as I did with my two children for many seasons—knows, this is a club that has community at its heart. It was not about whether you won the premiership. We made lifelong friends on those sidelines and at the sausage sizzles, and our kids had the chance to make a different set of friends on the field as well as learn valuable lessons about working as a team.

Fifty years is a wonderful milestone, and every single person who put their hand up to be a coach, to be team manager, to be on the committee or even to be a sponsor is part of its success. It is lovely to see the club has returned to its original lyrebird logo. Congratulations to the entire committee, led by chairman, Chris Gilchrist, and vice-chair, Peter Dempsey, for a successful evening which also raised money for the Adam Crouch Foundation.