Our People
21 July, 2026
Stawell volunteers in running for state honours
THE culture of volunteering at Stawell Little Athletics has earned state recognition, with two of the club’s driving forces nominated for Little Athletics Victoria awards. Centre president Elishia Murphy is a finalist for the Little Athletics Victoria Centre Volunteer of the Year award, while longtime coach Greg Carter is in the running for the Bryan Neighbour Centre Coach of the Year award.
They are among finalists selected from more than 60 nominations across nine categories, with winners to be announced at the LAVic Gala Awards Dinner on Saturday, July 25.
For both, the recognition came as a surprise.
Mr Carter said he would probably have discouraged anyone from nominating him had he known beforehand.
“I just do it because I love it,” he said.
“I don’t really do it for the recognition.”
Mr Carter also inspired Mrs Murphy’s own volunteering journey.
A former athlete who grew up in Sydney, Mr Carter became involved with the Stawell centre about 2010 after his children joined Little Athletics. Since then, he has completed coaching qualifications and spent years developing athletes while encouraging parents to become volunteers themselves.
Mrs Murphy was one of them.
After spotting the potential of her son Austin at an under-13 football match, Mr Carter encouraged the family to give Little Athletics a try.
Not long afterwards, he recruited her as a volunteer.
“Greg said, ‘You need to help me,’ and I did,” Mrs Murphy said.
“It led from being a normal volunteer helper to now being president, and he’s teaching me how to coach.”
Mrs Murphy said she had never been involved in athletics as a child, but quickly fell in love with the sport after seeing how much her son enjoyed it and learning alongside him.
She said the nomination was humbling and that she could not take all the credit for what the club had achieved.
“We’ve got an amazing group of people here,” she said.
“They’re there for our whole club, not just their own kids. They turn up and help so much to make it better.”
Mr Carter said that volunteer culture had helped the club rebuild after membership declined during the pandemic, while keeping registration costs among the lowest in Australia to ensure local families could continue to participate.
As the club prepares for another season, volunteers are hoping to see improvements to the North Park athletics venue, with discussions continuing with Northern Grampians Shire about maintenance of the council-managed facility ahead of the new season.
For both finalists, the nominations are appreciated, but volunteering has always been about the children rather than recognition.
“The kids are having so much fun,” Mrs Murphy said.
“It makes it easy to do those extra things because we know it’s going to benefit so many more kids.”
Mr Carter agreed.
“I just do it because I love it,” he said.
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