We spent some time with Life Member and former President of Karratha Touch Association (KTA) Elenna Chambers this month before she relocated to Rotorua, Bay of Plenty, New Zealand.
Elenna began by telling us that hers and the KTA's success over the past few years could not have occurred without the dedication of the committee members, her amazing partner Nate, and the ongoing support from Touch Football WA (TFWA) State Manager, Warren Smiles and the TFWA team. Elenna told us how grateful she was to have worked along side some incredibly driven people who have contributed to the clubs success along the way.
Elenna's families go to sport is Touch Football. Her mum was a representative player who went on to earn her level 4 referee badge. Her sister still plays competitive Touch Football travelling the east coast to compete in different tournaments.
Her passion for Touch Football began at a very young age. Elenna and her siblings spent their younger years playing competitive Touch Football at their Queensland Affiliate: Gold Coast Touch and travelling the east coast representing their club and school in various tournaments.
Elenna and her brother attended Keebra Park Highschool which is a sporting excellence school located on the Gold Coast. The school is well known for its sports specialisation programs which have shaped many Touch Football elite players. She was fortunate enough to play in one of the school’s first female Rugby League teams as well as the female and mixed Touch Football teams. In these teams, she and her team won various titles including the “World School Championships: Title”. Her high school had such a heavy Rugby League and Touch Football presence that it was extremely hard for her not to be involved with both codes of sport as it was so prevalent in her everyday life.
In 2008, Elenna relocated from the Gold Coast to the rural and remote town Karratha. After leaving her friends and family behind and to try and find some normality, Elenna joined her local Touch Football club. Joining the KTA immediately allowed her to forge friendships and be apart of a great community.
When she arrived at KTA in 2008, it was a thriving club (primarily due to the “mining boom”) with Men’s, Women’s and Mixed divisions. When the “mining boom" ended the participation also disintegrated. This left KTA without a viable competition or functioning club.
At the beginning of 2019, the keen Touch Football players that were left in the town were eager to start playing again. Her older sister, Lenore Chambers and well known Pilbara local and long time KTA member Arthur Ramirez started to recruit a solid committee. Elenna had never been one to volunteer her time but with a lot of persuasion from her sister she was convinced to get involved.
Elenna started her committee journey as a sectary but after a year she became the Vice President and eventually became the President. Over that time the committee worked hard to re-build the club. Upon her reflection Elenna believes her and the committee have re-established a thriving club that she remembers it to be back in 2008. Currently their participation numbers are extremely healthy and they have a vast amount of players who are wanting to compete at representative or state level.
Through Elenna and the committee's efforts they have been able to establish an inclusive, family, focused club that people of all ages, generations and backgrounds feel welcomed and comfortable enough to give Touch Football a go. Elenna commented on how beautiful it was to see multi-generations playing in the same team at KTA. This made her reflect on how fortunate enough she was to be able to share the field with her father and siblings and now with her children, nieces and nephews and how priceless those memories are to her.
Elenna lives a busy life as a full-time working mother of four and said it has been challenging balancing home, work, and Touch Football life. However, when she can see their new and returning members enjoying their Wednesday night games, their juniors getting amongst club competitions and the friendships that form within the club, it makes all of her time worthwhile.
She finished our conversation by saying " it is a bittersweet moment, I will be sad to leave KTA behind and it will always hold a piece of my heart, but I am also super excited to experience Touch Football in New Zealand".
Elenna's and KTA's major accomplishments and milestones from her time at KTA are listed below:
2021
- KTA won the North West Championships with a Karratha vs Karratha Grand Final
- Champions of the Gascoyne Games
- After a eight year hiatus Elenna organised a KTA Men’s 30’s team which entered into the WA State Championship presented by LiveLighter. Although the team lost in the semi-final it fueled the eagerness and determination of their senior men’s team.
2022
- Added a Junior Development Team to their North West Championships campaign targeting their local youth aged 12 to 16. This junior development team triggered a flow on affect with their neighboring North West Affiliates which has now seen a record number of junior development clinics being facilitated throughout the North West region as well as the introduction of a development division in our regional “Country Championship” Tournament. KTA have not had a Development team since 2010 so planning and execution of the junior development initiatives have been a rewarding focus for KTA.
- KTA's senior men’s (30’s) team were on a mission to secure a championship title but for Elenna having experienced a once thriving women’s competition during her early years in Karratha, she wanted to create an opportunity for the female players within the club to experience Touch Football at a representative level with the hope of reigniting a local women’s competition. Initially there was a lot of doubt circulating but with the support from the executive committee members the reality of a KTA women’s team eventuated and they entered a Women’s 30’s team. The Men’s 30’s were victorious and secured the WA State Championship Title and the experience gained by both the teams was reinvested within the local competition.
2023
- The success of 2022 led to an additional team joining the 2023 WA State Championships presented by LiveLighter with KTA entering a Men’s 30's, Men’s 40’s and Open Mixed team. KTA has had previous success in the Open Mixed division winning the Championship over 9 years ago. Although this recent Open Mixed team wasn’t as successful. However, the overall experience these younger players gained was incomparable and she was happy they were able to provide another opportunity for their younger players to showcase their talent.
