By DAVID NAGEL
GET out the streamers and get ready to party – the footy and netball are back this week as the Pakenham Gazette celebrates the 20th birthday of our much-loved Footy Lift-Out.
That’s right; it’s been 20 long years since managing director Ian Thomas decided to make the best local sporting coverage even better. And it’s a tradition that has continued to grow, with a long-list of journalists and contributors making the paper what it is today.
And with 16-pages of footy and netball to write about each week – it’s made for some very enjoyable experiences indeed. For all of us – it’s been a privilege!
From Ian Thomas, to Bob Utber, to Brad Kingsbury and his ‘Footy Shorts’ partner Kenny Moore, right through to our current day writers in Jarrod Potter and Russell Bennett, and our editor Garry Howe, the spirit of footy and netball, and what they mean to our local communities, has never been lost.
Ian Thomas, as managing director, would sit on the sidelines taking photos and attend local club functions on a regular basis just so he could get those stories across the line.
It’s a spirit that has been infectious – in a job that sometimes has its challenges – but it’s still a privilege to be involved because footy and netball clubs mean so much too so many.
They can be euphoric and triumphant places, but can feel poison and toxic at times, and tears can flow freely in both instances. They can be supportive in times of need, but can rip a friendship apart in minutes – in an emotion-charged environment like very few around.
To be honest, winning and losing doesn’t define our sportspeople as human beings and we probably take it a lot more serious than it need be, these are games they are playing after all.
But will that seriousness stop, no bloody way, it’s far too important for that!
From all of us at the Gazette, it’s been a privilege and it will always continue to be that way.
For more, including this full story and pieces from past scribes Ian Thomas, Brad Kingsbury and Bob Utber, grab a copy of this week’s Pakenham-Berwick Gazette.
