Vanessa Sporne, Country to Canberra teen blogger.
Every Friday night, no matter how cold, no matter how windy, no matter how badly you just want to slip on those ugg boots and park yourself in front of the TV, the Jamberoo Community Touch Football Tournament must be attended. Jamberoo is only a small town, just two hours south of Sydney, but when it comes to our sport we’re as passionate as anywhere.
Our Friday night touch football (although joined by many purely for the post-game drinks and sausage-sizzle) helps define our little town. Between 6 and 9:30pm, our community fields become a haven of friendly rivalries, playful banter and convenient catch-ups. When the horn sounds, we trudge through the Jamberoo Pub doors; a mass of jostling bodies as we try to get first in line at the bistro before the prawns run out. Any tourist sitting down for a peaceful dinner at the historic venue is forced into the company of hundreds of sweaty, muddy and noisy locals.
Whether it be tennis, rugby or cricket, sport is what brings us together; it’s the key to our community. Our sporting culture is ready to embrace any new member with open arms. Anyone is free to join in the fun.
But, here’s my question: what if sport just isn’t your thing? This is a problem faced by many newcomers into Jamberoo. Without joining the sports teams, it’s almost impossible to experience the vibrant community that our little town has to offer. There are some knitting groups and book clubs, but these are often age restricted and in short supply. Our town is built on relationships, but without an initial activity or time to get to know people, how can one build these relationships in the first place? Without sport, it seems there’s barely any opportunity for newcomers to seek out their own community within Jamberoo, because it’s so rare (or even impossible) to find anyone with similar interests.
Sport is so valuable to our town; it creates friendships that carry on within the wider community, like when you need someone to pick your kids up from school, to feed your cat for the week or to give that extra hand at the garage sale. My fear is that ‘non-sport goers’ are simply cut off. It’s going to take some innovative individuals setting up alternative groups to help solve this problem. Sport brings so much vitality to Jamberoo, and this problem is in no way ‘sport’s’ fault. However we need to remember that some people just don’t have any interest in sport (no matter how hard that is to believe), but this shouldn’t mean they can’t be a part of our fantastic little community.
You can read more about Vanessa here or follow her on Instagram via @vanessa_sporne