Bristol Paints Volunteer of the Month: Rebecca Faddy

Nominations for the Bristol Paint Volunteer of the Year award are still open. To nominate a volunteer to be featured as our Volunteer of the Month from your affiliate click here.

Grateful. Appreciative. Humble. Just a few words that come to mind and represent our Bristol Paint Volunteer of the Month for August, Rebecca Faddy, who was still in shock and coming to terms with the recognition received which showed in what she had to say about Touch Football in the Camden Haven area.

Rebecca Faddy or Bec, as she prefers to go by, lives just outside Port Macquarie and plays a massive role in the upkeep of the Camden Haven Touch Football Association. Bec has taken on many roles during her time at the club, from player to coach, administrative duties, and refereeing.

As the Bristol Paint Volunteer of the Month, we chat to Rebecca and learn more about her touch journey in a regional town and the work that goes into facilitating a touch competition for a small, but passionate, group of individuals in Camden Haven.

Congratulations Bec, can you begin by telling us about your Touch Football journey?

I really can’t believe I’ve been recognised in this way, I’m very thankful to those who nominated me, and I do enjoy volunteering for the club. So, I started playing touch football at the age of 13 in our local competition and by the age of 16 I was playing at the NSW State Cup under 20’s team and my dad was the coach. I then moved away for a little while and kept on playing touch, upon going back to the Camden Haven area my brother was running a Senior competition and had started a junior competition, and in 2014, I started assisting him with the running and organisation of these comps… and I’ve been doing that ever since.

Whilst helping with the running of the competitions I continued to play in our senior competition, I started my refereeing journey and am currently at Level 2, looking to progress to level 3 shortly. I am lucky to have very helpful refereeing directors in our area to help with this. I coached at the NSW Junior State Cup for a few years, and I am still wanting to play the Senior State Cup this year, the legs are starting to get weary, but I love the game and hope to be there!

What is it about Touch Football that makes you continue to volunteer your time?

As a youngling it was my sport of choice, I was also interested in netball and gymnastics, but the game of touch football won me over from the early days. It’s just my game. Most people have a passion that they give their all too and for me, that is touch. There’s a pull the sport has, from a health and fitness lens and of course the community feeling and comradery that comes with being a part of a team and the association.

Helping to run this competition is a passion and I really enjoy being able to give participants in Camden Haven an avenue to play, have fun and make lasting memories.

Watching the juniors come through the ranks and continue to shine once they are seniors is a special moment. My brother still plays (he’s the president and has been for 20 years) and he still tries to run around me, but I will dive if I must! My daughter is 16 years old and is sport crazy and she loves touch footy and currently also referees. So, as you can see the whole family has really bought into the game!

How do you manage to juggle full-time work, a family and running the Touch Footy comps in Camden Haven?

I currently work in education support. Overtime the juggling act becomes a little easier. Sometimes I think to myself how’d I get through those couple of weeks and the fact is, you just do… when you love something, you’re more than happy to dedicate your time to it and ensure it succeeds. I am very lucky to have some amazing helpers at the fields. I couldn’t do it without them.

Being a small competition can, at times, ensure that the burden is not too overwhelming, but as everything, there’s always challenges that present themselves – the reward at the end of the day is seeing the community thrive and the fun around the touch fields, the laughs, and new friendships.

You mentioned that you’re a Level 2 Referee, how have you found that?

Initially I just wanted to continue to help the competition, so I put up my hand to be a referee and really enjoyed it! It allows for everyone to play and gives a different perspective from being a player. The other major reason was to send teams to the NSW Junior State Cup. You need to supply referees otherwise entry becomes difficult, so I wanted to ensure we could enter teams, even if that meant getting involved in refereeing.

How many hours would you say go into running a Touch comp, per week?

It’s tough to say to be honest, there’s ebbs-and-flows throughout the year. During Winter I manage the senior competition, whereas in Summer there’s juniors and seniors to look after.

Summer I’ll be down at the fields from 3:45-7:30PM weekly on a Wednesday. As there’s plenty of preparation do be doing for the competition – but the most work usually occurs pre-competition. I’d be allocating a couple of hours a day in the lead up, constantly checking emails, sorting out the draws and making sure participants aren’t left waiting too long for a response.

Organising registrations, teams, junior singlets etc is much simpler as we use MySideline, which has really helped with managing all the above!

How does a small club near Port Macquarie go about attracting players to Touch Footy as opposed to other sports on offer in the area?

It’s been a tough slog, like many others we’ve been affected by covid and then in 2021 the floods, luckily everyone was safe, and all our gear was unharmed! We lost our fields for quite some time… but hopefully we will see a growth in the sport this Summer.

Last Summer we had 12 senior teams and 8 juniors with the hope and aspiration of increasing both! We’ll be looking to do some more advertising around our busy local areas and social media accounts plus we are beginning a come and try skills day, so everyone can come and see what all the fuss is about (and hopefully sign up). The area is growing, so we are hoping to increase our numbers and get more participants involved in our great sport.

What is your favourite Touch Footy memories?

That would have to be when I coached my daughter’s team and we got to play in the stadium at the NSW Junior State Cup in Port Macquarie. It was a really fulfilling moment for them to be picked to play in the stadium (a group of girls from a small town) and they had a draw.

What do you believe has been the biggest improvement or advancement in the sport from your perspective?

The coaching has impacted the way the game is being played in the most phenomenal manner. The way teams defend, and attack now is ridiculous, it’s all so fast. The strategic element of the game too has taken over, with plays and differing ways to move the ball about, and full credit can be given to the coaches who have changed the game – amazing to watch now, incredible!

Awesome to hear! So, what is next for Bec Faddy and Camden Haven Touch Football?

For the club and I think it’s the same goal - to grow the junior side of the competition and keep the kids interested. Keep that solid pathway there from juniors through to seniors and get a few more teams in the NSW Junior State Cup. We are so lucky for it to be held on our doorstep.

Finally, if you were to win the Bristol Paint Volunteer of the Year award and $15,000 towards a home or club renovation – what project comes to mind?

I would love to give it to a charity in need in our local area. We are associated with the annual running of a touch football charity day and have been for many years. Being able to give this as a donation would be tremendous.

As our Volunteer of the Month, Bec is now eligible for the Bristol Paint TFA Volunteer of the Year (VOY) Award. The TFA VOY will receive paint and labour to the value of $15,000 for the refurbishment project of their choice, thanks to our friends at Bristol Paints.

DON’T FORGET – All Touch Footy participants are entitled to 15-20% OFF Bristol Paint products.  Download your exclusive discount card on our website, click here, scroll to the bottom and download your card.