{"id":15368,"date":"2020-05-23T17:26:06","date_gmt":"2020-05-23T09:26:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/wa\/?p=15368"},"modified":"2020-06-23T14:13:33","modified_gmt":"2020-06-23T06:13:33","slug":"volunteer-efforts-changing-the-lives-and-the-community-of-brunswick-junction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/wa\/news\/2020\/05\/23\/volunteer-efforts-changing-the-lives-and-the-community-of-brunswick-junction","title":{"rendered":"Volunteer efforts changing the lives and the community of Brunswick Junction"},"content":{"rendered":"

More than 70 tennis loving children are proving to be the biggest winners in the small regional town of Brunswick Junction,<\/strong> thanks to the dedication and efforts of volunteer extraordinaire and local resident Julianne Hill and her committee.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Championed by the theme \u2018Changing Communities. Changing Lives\u2019<\/em>, the upcoming National Volunteer Week<\/strong> will see Hill\u2019s tireless efforts recognised and celebrated throughout the week of May 18-24<\/strong>. <\/em><\/p>\n

As a longstanding volunteer of the Brunswick Tennis Club<\/strong>, current Club President<\/strong> and winner of the 2019 Tennis West Volunteer Achievement Award, <\/strong>Hill has been the driving force of the club for some years. Responsible for a number of successful grant applications, Hill and past president Cindy Power<\/strong> were instrumental in securing funds for the resurfacing of the club\u2019s four hard courts, installation of a new hit-up wall and the engagement of new club coach, Sam Galati.<\/p>\n

Yet grants, facilities and services aside, Hill seems to understand better than most that it\u2019s the little things that make the biggest difference when it comes to creating a welcoming and vibrant club community. Renowned for turning up to the club with birthday cakes, end of season gifts and personal notes attached to each child\u2019s trophy, Hill seems to take her far reaching impact all in her stride.<\/p>\n

\u2018It\u2019s about seeing kids shine when they may be a bit troubled in other parts of their lives. It\u2019s about lifting a kid up to help them be part of the group even though they might not think they fit but actually they do\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018When I see more than 60 kids turning up to junior tennis in the middle of summer when it\u2019s over 40 degrees, I know that what we do is something really important and worthwhile\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018It all of it adds up to give you that warm and fuzzy feeling even though it\u2019s not all plain sailing,\u2019 Hill said.<\/p>\n

Club Secretary<\/strong> Tanya Musitano<\/strong> says that the small country town of just 770 residents, has some 86 members, including upward of 70 juniors. Claiming that the club is incredibly fortunate to have Hill at the helm of the club. Musitano says Hill goes above and beyond to ensure the club\u2019s thriving operation, with a keen interest focussed on keeping the younger kids interested and the teenagers motivated.<\/p>\n

\u2018Julianne\u2019s dedication and commitment to our club is mind-blowing, especially given that she runs her own farm with her husband, often clocks up more than a 1000 kms a week for work and no longer has children of her own who play junior tennis,\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018From club registrations and open days, to coaching assistance, club marketing, grounds maintenance and the organising of end of year tournaments; Julianne even cooks the sausages after game days at the club,\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018Thanks to Julianne\u2019s efforts in securing a club coach, the kid\u2019s tennis skills have improved considerably because they\u2019re now divided across age and ability groups,\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018Julianne joins in with the weekly coaching sessions and regularly hits with the kids, providing plenty of encouragement along the way,\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018Wanting even more for the kids, Julianne and Cindy advertised for a volunteer assistant coach who\u2019s a student from one of the local schools,\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018The older kids can now serve and have a proper rally, which has made such a positive difference to their tennis and improved their love of the game,\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018And not only does Julianne encourage the kids to enter tournaments, she quite often sends a text message or gives a phone call the next day asking how they went and if they had fun,\u2019 Musitano said.<\/p>\n

And the old adage that it takes a village to raise a child, means Hill doesn\u2019t stand to do this all on her own, creating an equally welcoming environment to the hard working committee of which she leads, which includes an official position of Chief Champagne Pourer. And it seems now more than ever, Hill\u2019s ability to change the lives of children and adults alike, has never been more fortified.<\/p>\n

\u2018As it\u2019s something that I have always been a part of, I hadn\u2019t realized until just recently that volunteering is sometimes hard for people to take that first step into,\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018In the last two years I have had two amazing new volunteers come on the scene that didn\u2019t have any idea how to go about joining or becoming more involved in some of the groups I am part of,\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018One of the ladies is an amazing resource. I\u2019d advertised in the local paper asking for a volunteer boy or girl wonder, specifically noting that the committee needed amazing people. She\u2019s already taken a lead within the committee and is so much more confident,\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018Another lady had two kids in junior tennis but hadn\u2019t taken any steps to be part of the tennis club herself, so I invited her along to a committee meeting where we were talking about a catering job. Turns out she is an amazing cook,\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018She later told me that she almost turned around on the way to the meeting as she had been feeling really nervous and she didn\u2019t think she had anything to contribute. Now I think we\u2019ll have another committee member, as she particularly loved seeing that we had a Chief Champagne Pourer on our committee,\u2019 Hill said.<\/p>\n

Noting Hill\u2019s fervent capacity to build and strengthen relationships with both the young and old, she also delivers on cross-organisation and club collaboration connections throughout the Brunswick community to ensure that everyone benefits, which according to Musitano, strengthens the club\u2019s presence within the community.<\/p>\n

\u2018Leading into the hit-up wall installation, Julianne spent time building relationships with the manager and grounds people of the Community Resource Centre next door. This meant we were able to work together in funding the project,\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018The tennis club is involved in the local ANZAC Day ceremony where Julianne and some of the junior tennis players lay the wreath on behalf of the club, and just last year we held a fundraiser at the Harvey Brunswick Leschenault Football Club where we ran a Christmas in July function,\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018It all adds up to us building a great rapport within our community,\u2019 Musitano said.<\/p>\n

Inspired by what Hill claims to be an innate desire to help others and do something to give back, it seems that the \u00a0Brunswick Tennis Club aren\u2019t the only ones to have benefited from Hill\u2019s unwavering commitment which began at the Jerramungup Pony Club when she was just 15. Since then, Hill has given her time to countless organisations and community groups including the Red Cross, Ravensthorpe Junior Hockey Club, Ravensthorpe Tennis Club, Brunswick Cricket Club, Brunswick Agricultural Society, and HBL Junior Football Club. And as it stands, Hill says her passion for volunteering only continues to intensify.<\/p>\n

\u2018The best thing about volunteering is getting a bloody buzz out of seeing kids happy and engaged \u2013 and getting some healthy cheek back from them,\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018I love seeing these kids later on after a few years away from my view and they still have a chat to me in an easy and comfortable way. I hope that one of the things that volunteering does, is that it enables kids to feel like that they can talk to an adult without feeling censure, especially when they are much older and cooler and with their mates, that they can still talk to us,\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018In most ways, volunteering isn\u2019t at all about me, but about the people we can help or provide an outlet for. It\u2019s changed my life because I have found that despite my family being the most important people in my life, life is bigger than all of us,\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018Volunteering is something that I feel more strongly about as I get older and if I had more time and money, I would do much more of it. It\u2019s bloody amazing and is something that everybody should have a crack at. The buy-in will bring so much pleasure to your life,\u2019 Hill said.<\/p>\n

Tennis West CEO Michael Roberts<\/strong> applauded Julianne and the countless volunteers, recognising them for the collective dedication to the delivery of tennis and proficient running of clubs across by metropolitan and regional WA.<\/p>\n

\u2018Without a doubt our volunteers are the lifeblood of our sport, without them we simply couldn\u2019t operate or deliver on our projects, programs and pathways,\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018Australia wide, more than 5.8 million volunteers are estimated to collectively contribute more than 743 million voluntary hours to the community and we know that many of those hours are at the hands of the hard working volunteers in our clubs,\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018We are enormously indebted to our volunteers and look forward to celebrating their efforts virtually throughout National Volunteers Week,\u2019<\/p>\n

Facilitated by Volunteering Australia, the 2020 National Volunteers Week will this year be a virtual celebration of Australia\u2019s volunteers.<\/p>\n

For more information you can head to: https:\/\/www.volunteeringaustralia.org\/#\/<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

More than 70 tennis loving children are proving to be the biggest winners in the small regional town of Brunswick Junction, thanks to the dedication and efforts of volunteer extraordinaire and local resident Julianne Hill and her committee. Championed by the theme \u2018Changing Communities. Changing Lives\u2019, the upcoming National Volunteer Week will see Hill\u2019s tireless […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6203,"featured_media":15398,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15368","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/wa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15368","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/wa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/wa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/wa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6203"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/wa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15368"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/wa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15368\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/wa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15398"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/wa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15368"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/wa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15368"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/wa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15368"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}