Sturt team manager Graham Mason reaches 20 years at the SANFL club
He’s one of the people behind the scenes that make the Sturt Football Club tick and not many can claim to have seen as much as Graham Mason in the last 20 years at the Double Blues.
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From the highs of a premiership to the devastation of the Bali bombing a week later which claimed the lives of Sturt identities Bob Marshall and Josh Deegan, Sturt Football Club league team manager Graham Mason has seen it all.
“To have the excitement of the premiership (2002) and being over the moon with that and then followed by Bali was a very sombre time at the club,’’ Mason said.
“That hit the club in a big way. Every year we have a memorial day to remember. That was such a low time for the club.’’
Mason, 72, recently chalked up 20 years service with the Double Blues starting as a team manager with the under-18s in 2000, to reserves and then league in 2007.
Before that he volunteered for about 28 years in similar positions at amateur football clubs Ferryden Park (now defunct), Para Hills and Colonel Light Gardens.
But despite the flags and a number of great victories along the way Mason’s highlights are more personal.
“It’s the smiles on the faces of players and their parents when they make their league debut, that’s what keeps me going,’’ Mason of Para Hills says.
“The league coach will do a bit of a presentation to the players and that is special to see.
“What I enjoy is seeing those young players come through the juniors and then on to league and for some into the AFL. You can’t beat that.’’
Mason, who was a postie with Australia Post for about 27 years, also served in the army for six years with two tours of Vietnam.
But trying to squeeze any info or gossip on the coaches and players from the team manager proved a waste of time.
“No gossip. All the players have been really good and well behaved,’’ Mason said.
“We have such a good crop of young players coming through and it is always exciting following their journey.’’
He says Angus Monfries was among the best juniors to come through the club but there were many others who had done well.
Sturt football manager Chris Trapp said Mason had been an excellent part of the off-field system.
“He really is a quiet achiever,’’ Trapp said. “He came to the club helping the juniors coming through and now he is doing the same with the seniors. He and the other volunteers are so important to our club and any club.’’