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29 September 2003 Interview
Transcript Topic: Sporting Champions from regional Victoria. Bedford: A couple of times this year we've had the opportunity to talk with some of the members of Champions of the Bush. We've invited the group's Executive Officer Darren Chester to join us over the next few weeks to discuss some of the issues facing regional Victorians. Champions of the Bush is a group of leading regional business people who are trying to take a lead role in supporting regional development and also promoting the positives about living and working in country areas. Just add to that the fact that Darren Chester, the Executive Officer is a self-confessed sports nut and he joins us on the program now. Good morning Darren. Chester: Good morning Kathy - and we've all got to talk about football today, don't we? Bedford: Well we have to. I think it's a really good way to do it - to focus on the sporting champions. There is something in the water in regional areas isn't there? Chester: It's quite incredible and until you've lived in a country town you don't really appreciate how important sport is to a country community. You look at some of the towns - I live in Gippsland for example - and they take great pride in their on-field achievements. Towns like Traralgon have been a football powerhouse for 20 odd years. The little timber town of Heyfield used to have a women's basketball team which kept on winning State Championships. Maffra - which has only got a couple of thousand people - but last year they won their first flag in 50 years and have gone back-to-back this year. The whole town just got right behind them. It's quite incredible how sporting groups contribute so much to country life. Bedford: And of course we've had a Brownlow Medallist this year from up near Horsham. Chester: Yes, Adam Goodes - that's fantastic for the Swans supporters and also of course for the country community. You mentioned in your introduction about the Brisbane football team having a strong presence in country Victoria. Some of the star players like Michael Voss - he was born in Traralgon but he's really claimed by the Orbost community because he spent about 10 years there before he moved to Queensland. Bedford: That's right - we spoke to his dad after your tip on Friday. We got his dad Gary Voss on - it was just gorgeous. Chester: Well Gary's quite a character in the Orbost community. They still talk about him in awe in some regards. He was quite a tough man in that league. I'm not sure that Gary would have played as many games as he's played if he was in the trial by video era. It was a pretty rugged competition up in Orbost in those days and Gary gave a few out and certainly copped a few as well. You can see where some of Michael's toughness comes from I think. Bedford: Some of the other players you mentioned - Jonathon Brown, Nigel Lappin. Chester: Yes, Jonathon Brown from the Warrnambool area and they love him in that part of the state and also he's an old Roy boy, so the Fitzroy supporters seem to have adopted Jonathon Brown. Nigel Lappin, he's from Chiltern; Shaun Hart a Norm Smith Medallist two years ago, he hails from Shepparton originally. So there's a really strong influence from country Victoria in the premiership team. Bedford: Now we're taking some calls this morning. We're speaking to Darren Chester who is the Executive Officer of Champions of the Bush. We want your calls on sporting champions from regional Victoria and southern New South Wales. Talkback callers Bedford: Darren, there is a theory that you actually have an advantage growing up in the country, as a sports player because you get more opportunities and you get to play with older kids because there's less teams. What do you think of that theory? Chester: I think there are some lifestyle advantages for young sports people in country areas. There's another part to it - there's not a lot of built services sometimes - you have to make your own fun out there kicking a footy or playing netball or whatever else. Maybe because you have to play against adults at a younger age it toughens you up pretty early. I know a young fellow Cameron White whose just been appointed the youngest captain of the Victorian one-day cricket side. Cameron comes from Bairnsdale and he would have been playing against men from the time he was 13 years old - it's probably toughened him up a lot to take on other sportspeople as he goes through his career. Bedford: I guess we could look at how healthy the local community's sporting life is as to how healthy that community is. Chester: Exactly. The Maffra example I mentioned before it's just amazing to watch that town come to life when its footy team is going so well. The business community - the cash registers were certainly ringing. Everybody's out there spending money because they were happy and were positive about their community. It's amazing how that flows on. There's also a lot of sporting events in country Victoria which are very important to the regional economy. Things like the Stawell Gift; or the Murray River canoe marathon; or the Sun Bike Tour and the Great Victorian Bike Ride. Sport can have a really important influence on the regional economy. I think it's important that when we talk about our regional communities we don't overlook the importance of sport and making sure we keep supporting our sporting groups and helping them to get the facilities in place. Bedford: What does it mean to a regional community Darren when they do start struggling to fill a footy team or a netball side and the clubs do fold? Chester: It really can rip the heart out of a country town, especially if it's the football and netball clubs. It seems to be the meeting place on a Saturday afternoon. Things might be crook on the land but you can get together and forget about it on the weekend and enjoy the comradeship of the football or the netball. So when these sort of services or organisations start dropping out of a country community, we really feel it. That's a big issue we find with young people. If we can't keep developing jobs for young people - they are the heart and soul - the next generation of our sporting clubs. We're trying to do as much as we can to encourage business development. Part of it is to be very positive. If we get this mood of enthusiasm and excitement going in our country communities we can shake off the negative image and it would certainly help us a lot. Bedford: We're had a caller ring through and suggest Baden Cook - who did extremely well in the Tour de France - he's from Benalla. We're talking to Darren Chester who is the Executive Officer with Champions of the Bush. Taking your calls on sporting champions - Alan in Sale, who have you got for us this morning. Talkback callers. Bedford: Darren, I don't know, I guess we'll just have to say it's something in the water. We couldn't argue that sporting facilities are better in country areas? Chester: It's amazing with the facilities you find in some country towns. A lot of it comes about through the hard work of volunteers - we mustn't forget what a great part of community life they are. Probably the former sporting champions in their own town who stay around and act as the secretary or the president or do the fundraising. A lot of the work which occurs in these country communities is done by volunteers so, we shouldn't forget them when we start talking about sporting champions I suppose. Bedford: I think you're right and that's probably a whole topic we can look at in regional communities because I think it's probably stronger outside big cities than it is if you live in big cities like Melbourne. Chester: It's amazing how a whole town can get behind something like a football club or a netball club. I was just thinking about a few other champions from throughout regional Australia. Don Bradman from Bowral; Cathy Freeman, I think she came from Mackay originally; Pat Rafter was a Mt Isa boy when he first learned to play tennis; Greg Norman started his golfing career in Mt Isa. It's quite incredible the large number of sporting champions we've had from right throughout regional Australia. Bedford: Let's throw in Steve Moneghetti from Ballarat and of course, champion of all time, Buddha Hocking from Geelong Football Club from Cobram. Chester: There wouldn't be any bias there would there Kathy? Bedford: Not at all. Darren it's been a pleasure. We look forward to catching up with you next week. Chester: All the best. Bedford: Darren Chester - the Executive Officer of Champions of the Bush. Media
information: For further comments contact Darren Chester on 0351 55
3719 or 0412 153 719.
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