North Coast pair honoured with State Volunteer wins

The AFL NSW/ACT has announced its Toyota AFL Volunteers of the Year winners for 2023 and two AFL North Coast volunteers are among the 12 category winners.

Rod Chetwynd was named as the winner in the NSW/ACT AFL Community Umpiring Service category.

Rod was selected for his years of outstanding service to umpiring as well fostering improvement and growth in the local umpiring group, particularly in the Port Macquarie region.

Carissa Embling was chosen as this year’s Toyota AFL Community Volunteer for NSW/ACT.

Having served on the Port Macquarie Seniors committee in recent years, this year Carissa took on the president’s role this year and was selected after many of her actions enhanced the Magpies’ governance, operations, sponsorship and inclusivity outcomes.

These outstanding footy people were selected from a record number of nominations received by AFL NSW/ACT.

NSW/ACT volunteers of the year receive a certificate of appreciation and a $200 e-gift.

“Volunteers are the heartbeat of our football community and each of these amazing winners here have proven themselves deeply committed to their clubs, schools and community football groups,” Head of AFL NSW/ACT, Tiffany Robertson said:

“Congratulations to all the winners and thank you, on behalf of everyone involved in AFL in NSW and the ACT, for all you have done to enhance footy in this region.”

NSW/ACT’s 2023 Toyota AFL Volunteers of the Year

Category	Name	Club/School	Location	Citation
Toyota AFL Community Volunteer	Carissa Embling	Port Macquarie Magpies	AFL North Coast	For enhancing the club’s governance, operations, sponsorship and inclusivity outcomes.
Young Leader of the Year	Shelby Newton	Cardiff Hawks	AFL Hunter Central Coast	For inspiring, guiding and enhancing the experience for youth girls and Indigenous participants in AFL Hunter Central Coast.
Community Club of the Year	–	Maroubra Saints	AFL Sydney Juniors	Achieving outstanding growth in girls playing and women as coaches and committee representatives.
NAB AFL Auskick Volunteer	Garret Goring	Mangoplah Cookardinia United Eastlakes	AFL Riverina	For creating a positive, organised Auskick environment and being instrumental in setting up the first girls only Auskick program in Wagga.
AFL Disability Inclusion Volunteer	Julie Chard	Penrith Giants	AFL Sydney Juniors	For initiating and leading the development of the Club Kickability Guide and assisting several clubs set-up a Kickability program.
AFL Community Umpiring Service	Rod Chetwynd	–	AFL North Coast	For an outstanding contribution to umpiring and fostering improvement and growth in the local umpiring group.
AFL Community Coach of the Year – Male	Stephen Benjamin	Maroubra Saints	AFL Sydney Juniors	For playing coaching roles with U7, U9 and U10 teams and encouraging improvement and a love of football at all ages.
AFL Community Coach of the Year – Female	Tracy Jedrzejewski	Wollondilly Knights	AFL Sydney	For playing a major role in rebuilding the senior women’s playing group following several disrupted years.
AFL School Teacher of the Year – Male	Samuel Nolte	Endeavour Sports High	Caringbah	For working hard to get kids involved in football at school, playing many roles to get them to competition and performing well.
AFL School Teacher of the Year – Female	Tanya Crosswell	Wahroonga Public School	Hornsby Primary School Sports Association	For managing the Hornsby PSSA competition to include 15 schools who play weekly, dividing them into developing and experienced schools to ensure an even competition.
AFL National Community Football Media Award	Edwina Colquhoun	Western Suburbs Magpies	AFL Sydney Juniors	For redesigning the club’s website, and for managing social media and club communications.
AFL National Community Football Photography Award	Simone Harmer	Turvey Park Bulldogs	AFL Riverina	For long term dedication for photographing Turvey Park matches and advising other clubs across AFL Riverina on how to manage social media.

Each of the NSW/ACT winners are eligible to become the national winner for their category. National winners receive a three-night package to attend the 2023 Toyota AFL Grand Final and one deserving volunteer will win a new Toyota Hilux valued at $61,000.