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| Ron Hoenig MP & George Lundy |
It was a pleasure last night to present to George Lundy, President of Pagewood Botany Football Club a parliamentary certificate thanking the club for doing so much for the local community.
This fantastic club, with such community minded volunteers do not just organise football or soccer for its members, it actively engages with the community, raising funds, and works intellectual disabled children at Windgap, and through the Special Olympics.
This year this club raised and donated $12,000 to the Sydney Childrens Hospital. It donated $1400 to Windgap. It held soccer Gala Days for Windgap at Jellicoe Park and has invited Special Olympic teams to Pagewood.
Their efforts are even more remarkable as they are always subject to criticism by peak soccer bodies. Believe it or not it is all about complaining that money should be paid to peak soccer bodies or trying to stop their volunteers training and organising football for the intellectually disabled children. In reality if these sport bodies had their way, rather than money going to Sydney Childrens Hospital or the intellectually disabled, it would go into the pocket of soccer administrators who do not reside in this community and contribute little to it.
In this state for a child to play representative football that child needs to find $3000 to play. In my view it is a scandle. No other representative children's sport does this. I have great confidence in Frank Lowy FFA Chairman's ability to effect improvements, but in states like NSW there is a long way to go.
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