AFL finances makeover of sporting ground at Avondale
Local footy fans are benefitting from an Australian Football League-financed makeover of a sports ground at Avondale.
AFL NSW/ACT has financed the purchase and installation of new football posts and the marking of lines for the sports ground on the Lake Macquarie campus of Avondale College of Higher Education.
The posts and the line marking are an “asset” to Avondale, says Director of Student Services Kevin Judge. They are a practical addition to a ground that is now much improved, he adds. “Hopefully, the interest in the sport by our students will continue.”
Avondale has an association with the Lake Macquarie Dockers, which plays in the Black Diamond Australian Football League—the premier competition in the Newcastle, Hunter and Central Coast regions. The Dockers’ division two team reached the preliminary final this past season after the league changed game days for the Seventh-day Adventist students on its roster. Adventists call Saturdays Sabbath and observe it as a day of rest and of restoration. One of the students, Jordan Hutchinson, finished the season as the team’s highest goal kicker.
Colin Burzacott coached the team this past season. Now Assistant Coach of the division one team, Burzacott, with Dockers’ Football Manager John Janissen, installed the posts and marked the lines. His passion, he explains, is not just for the football code but also for the “building of relationships” between Avondale and the community.
Use of the sports ground by AFL NSW/ACT’s Hunter and Central Coast Female Academy is evidence of this. The ground is one of two bases for the academy, which means the women are using it for training on Thursday evenings this year.
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