Pride of Australia: Bob Holmes nominated for work with West Croydon Football Club
LIKE the stitching on a much-loved football, Bob Holmes is the thread holding the West Croydon Football Club together.
LIKE the stitching on a much-loved football, Bob Holmes is the thread holding the West Croydon Football Club together.
“I’ve tried to leave before and the club gets into trouble and so I always come back and help them out,” Mr Holmes says.
The 69-year-old retired panel beater has been a coach, chairman, vice president and president of the club since 1967.
He has also raised an estimated $200,000 for the club selling raffle tickets and calling bingo games.
The club has nominated Mr Holmes, of Queenstown, for a Pride of Australia medal in the community spirit category.
Now in its 11th year, Pride of Australia honours ordinary Australians who contribute extraordinarily to the community.
“The club’s my life,” Mr Holmes says.
“If you’ve been somewhere for 48 years, it’s your life and for me it’s the friendships you make and the respect you get – not from all of them – but from most of them.
“I get people coming up to me in the shops saying I was the best coach they ever had, which is nice.”
Club president Wayne Quinn said Mr Holmes would be a worthy recipient of the award.
“He has worn so many hats,” Mr Quinn says.
“This award would be a reward for his many years of mentoring and fundraising at our club.
“He is one of the best bingo callers and called bingo for many years and Mr Raffle, as I call him, could sell ice to the Eskimos.”
Pride of Australia nominations close on July 19. Finalists for each category will be announced on August 30.