MELANIE WHELAN: Hardwick's AFL burn-out has message for community sport

Hardwick, a triple premiership AFL coach and the one to awaken and guide the Tiger Army back from the wilderness, really owes us no more explanation. Except, maybe to Tiger members for his off-hand parting remarks about filling his family's worth of cars up on club-paid petrol before officially handing in his resignation.

Simply, Hardwick was burnt out and could squeeze no more from players of which he had already asked so much - he had "tried to cook the sausage 1000 different ways".

There is no questioning the demands in elite sport are immense, and especially so on those charged with nothing less than capturing an elusive premiership.

But what about those keeping our community sporting ranks alive?

The predominantly volunteer based fleets who will have been cleaning up the clubrooms on a Friday night before game day, listening to parents' concerns, juggling fundraising and sponsorship deals and taking part in committee meetings.

Let alone being at the ground all game day in support.

These are the club presidents, the coaches, the all-rounders who wear many hats across all our sports.

Most do all this outside their day job work commitments and during a large portion of their time off.

While for many, involvement in community sport is an outlet from the daily grind, they are still facing great demands on their time, their skills and their passion to provide good opportunities for players of all ages to be involved in sport and feel they belong to something bigger.

This is far from an easy feat in the modern standards of safety standards. You only need to look to those who have been navigating clubs through COVID-19 regulations and bounce backs.

We need to ensure they do not feel left burnt out too.

Hardwick's shock resignation comes in the days after National Volunteer Week and it is worth reiterating how indebted our thriving sporting scene is to those who are going above and beyond to make sport happen.

Volunteering Victoria chief executive officer Thu-Trang Tran told The Courier there was a general perception that volunteering just happened. Only volunteering did not just happen.

This is worth noting when you rock up to play this weekend or standing on the sidelines cheering on your juniors.

So much more goes into getting to that first bounce or opening whistle than many might realise.

Hardwick is a reminder that is it okay to speak up when it all becomes too much: whether that means stepping down, taking a break or asking for a hand. But sometimes it means the most to offer a hand.

Team efforts are fundamental in all sports - even Wimbledon and Australian Open champion Ash Barty attributes success to her team.

Football parlance tells us one per centers matter. Even if it is just saying thanks.

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