DIMBOOLA Football Netball Club will hand over life memberships to four players on Sunday.
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Kellie Laverty, Chris Avery, Hayden Eldridge and Darren Jones have all played 200 games for the club.
Jones started playing senior football at the club in 2002 and has been there ever since.
He said his career had been spasmodic over the time.
“I had two knee reconstructions in 2006 and 2008,” he said.
“I started thinking retiring might be an option at that point.”
Jones still wanted to stay involved at the club even if he couldn’t take to the field so he joined the club’s committee late in 2008.
“The club is like a family to me, they’ve always been there to support me,” he said
“I think what you get out of something depends on what you put into it.”
He said it was a nice achievement for him at a club he has always considered it a privilege to play for.
“I’m grateful for the club and I’ve never considered it a right to play,” he said.
He said a highlight of his time at the club was seeing it grow into a more professional organisation in the mid 2000s.
“We recruited some players from Darwin and ended up playing in the 2005 and 2006 grand finals,” he said.
“More recently winning the senior premiership in 2013 was obviously another highlight, especially since the club hadn’t got one since 1985.”
Dimboola president Colin Campbell said Jones had been a huge contributor off the field.
“He’s been vice-president, he is massive with getting sponsorship and just a huge driving force behind the club,” he said.
Campbell had high praise for the other life membership recipients.
“Kellie played all of her junior netball here and she does a lot around the club including coaching,” he said
“Chris has played all of his senior footy at the club, he’s coaching the under-17s this year and is always willing to help out around the club.
“Hayden’s always been an important key position player for the club and won an under-17 best and fairest award.”
The club is presenting the foursome with life memberships at the club on Sunday.