Queenscliff has been recognised for its significant contribution, which extends well beyond Suma Park, by being named AFL Victoria’s Community Club of the Year.
The Coutas received the award at a presentation ceremony in Melbourne on Friday night.
“It was very exciting,” president Ali Waight said.
“We were in a room at the Carlton footy club with lots of large metro clubs, so for Queenscliff to win the club of the year was really exciting.”
As well as across the communities of Queenscliff and Point Lonsdale, the Coutas are impacting lives in Victoria’s north and in Indigenous communities in South Australia and Northern Territory.
The club has hosted women from the flood-impacted town of Rochester, near Echuca, while Coutas jumpers and second-hand football boots have been donated to Indigenous youngsters.
“We’ve really tried to give back to the community and go beyond the boundary of Queenscliff and Pont Lonsdale this year,” Waight said.
Locally, Queenscliff set itself the ambitious target of 500 social members for the 2024 season, which it comfortably smashed.
“Last year, we had 230 social members. This year, we had a goal of 500, and we managed to get over 600 social members for our little town down here in Queenscliff, which was amazing,” Waight said.
“A lot of that came from two IGA stalls that we ran over summer to capitalise on the tourists.
“We sold a lot of social memberships there and a lot of Coutas merchandise as well.”
Thursday night meals have regularly topped 300, while Queenscliff is a local leader in social media, with regular updates across Facebook and Instagram, which Waight spearheads.
“We’re a small club down here, and to get new recruits – they’re driving past 15-20 clubs to get down to Queenscliff, so trying to do more on social media has been a thing,” she said.
“And trying to get noticed in the Geelong region, hence our social membership and driving to get new recruits to fill our teams.
“Some of the time, we start the year looking at 13-14 players in our junior (football) teams, so it’s looking healthier now.”
Meanwhile, AFL Barwon chair Michelle Gerdtz has been recognised for more than two decades of contribution to local football and netball with an AFL Merit Award.
Gerdtz worked for several years at AFL Barwon’s forerunner, Football Netball Geelong, and was the first female president of a GFNL club when she held the top job at Bell Park for two years.
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