General News
16 October, 2020
Kristie Coverdale’s volunteer efforts recognised
KRISTIE Coverdale admits to feeling a mixture of emotions after she received one of Pony Club Victoria’s (PVC) top honours on the weekend.
KRISTIE Coverdale admits to feeling a mixture of emotions after she received one of Pony Club Victoria’s (PVC) top honours on the weekend.
The Cobden Pony Club official was named as PVC’s Volunteer of the Year on the weekend at the organisation’s annual general meeting and awards ceremony.
Coverdale, who has been involved with pony club for 14 years, was nominated by a local group to be recognised for her involvement with the sport.
She said she was both “humbled and slightly embarrassed” to be nominated and shocked to learn she had won given she felt other people were worthy of the award.
“There’s lot of others who do other good stuff so I was thinking I wonder who did this to me but I had a pretty good idea of who was to blame,” Coverdale said.
“I was humbled that they thought of me and went to the effort to put in a nomination. I received an email from PVC last Thursday to say I had made it to the final three.
“I had to turn up to the AGM on Zoom but I didn’t think I would have a hope because Jim Page has been involved in pony club for a long time and the other girl (Kylie Splatt) had also done a fair bit.
“I was shocked when my name was read out as the winner.”
Nonetheless Coverdale said she was pleased to be recognised but admitted she did not volunteer for the recognition.
Rather, she volunteers to ensure local children have the opportunity to enjoy sports as they grow up.
“I don’t go out volunteering looking to one day win an award or to receive recognition. It is nice to be recognised but I volunteer for the kids in the sports,” Coverdale said.
“My parents have always volunteered and without volunteers you wouldn’t have sport and particularly in small country towns if you don’t have sport, you don’t have much else going on.
“My main aim is to make sure the kids have fun and create memories they can take with them for life.
“It makes me happy to know all the time and effort isn’t for nothing and it makes me happy to see the kids happy and to hear them laughing and having fun.”
Coverdale said pony club was slowly returning to its monthly rallies and competitions after the COVID-19 shutdown lifted in September.
She said locally the small clubs like Princetown, Heytesbury, Camperdown, Emu Creek, Dennington and Warrnambool all worked together to ensure their participants had regular meetings to attend.
“We all help each other out – if there was no help there would be no competitions for the kids to put into practice all the skills they learn,” Coverdale said.
“When the first lockdown happened we (Cobden) loaned out all of our equipment as a club to our members so they could ride at home which ensured they had equipment to use when we weren’t allowed to meet.
“I think we missed four months of rallies but there were competitions still held online. The kids just had to film themselves and put it up online, so there was still some stuff for the kids to do.
“But they’ve enjoyed getting back together – a huge part of pony club is the socialisation so even for the kids riding at home it is not quite the same. That’s not just the kids as well, it’s the parents who have also enjoyed being able to catch up again too.”
Coverdale thanked the group of people who nominated her, her husband Ash and her children Rory, Jasper and Nash for their support in accepting her award.