National Volunteer Week – Thank You Series

12 May 2016 by Lauren Pritchard

Volunteers are the heart and soul of Touch Football, at all levels, no matter if at the grassroots or on the international stage.

They are the first to arrive and last to leave. Rain, hail or shine, they drive our sport forward, and we are forever grateful for their time and effort.

As we celebrate National Volunteer Week, Touch Football Australia (TFA) would like to acknowledge and pay tribute to some of the volunteers in our sport, by giving special recognition to those who were nominated for the Touch Football Australia Volunteer of the Year Award for 2015.

TFA Chief Executive Officer, Colm Maguire says the sport is ‘indebted to volunteers at so many levels’.

“Touch Football has a heavy reliance on volunteer infrastructure to not only steer the organisation at Board level but also the technical delivery and right down to the actual delivery of our product on a weekly basis,” Maguire said.

“Without this amazing contribution of time and dedicated service from so many people, our sport would not have developed into what it is today.”

“On behalf of the TFA Board, staff and indeed participants I thank all the people that afford time to our sport on a volunteer basis. We truly value your contribution.”

Today we feature Damian Carlson (SA) and Karen Lombardo (WA) and thank them and all volunteers across Australia for their ongoing support of the sport we love.

Damien Carlson – South Australia

Damien has been involved with the sport of Touch Football for over 20 years in South Australia.

Karen Lombardo – Western Australia

Karen has worked tirelessly in the Karratha Touch Association for a number of years after previous involvement with other affiliates throughout Western Australia.
On Tuesday we featured Tim Kitchingham (NSW) and Ken Golden (National), and we thank them for their ongoing support of Touch Football.

Tim Kitchingham – New South Wales

Tim was the 2014 NSW Touch Association Volunteer of the Year – the Rod Wise Medal winner. Given his contribution to the sport over many years on a year on year basis it is little wonder that Tim has achieved this accolade.

Ken Golden – National

Ken Golden has provided a significant amount of service to the sport of Touch Football, which continues to this day. Ken has played an integral role in the refereeing arm of the sport for the best part of 30 years.Summary of Achievements

» 1982 – 1992 – Assistant Director of ADFTA Referees

» 1992 – Appointed Director of ADFTA Referees

» 1995 – 1999 – Appointed to NSWTA Referee Panel

» 1995 – Appointed to TFA Referee Panel

» 2011 – Lead of Referee Education and Training

For more information, visit the Touch Football Australia Website.