Revealed: Little Athletics coach crowned Gold Coast’s best club sport volunteer

From being the first in and last out every week to bringing fruit for thousands and never missing a game, every club has one: a star volunteer. Meet Gold Coast’s best, from Runaway Bay Little Athletics:

Renè Doel of Runaway Bay Little Athletics club with his twin daughters

From being the first in and last out every week to bringing fruit for thousands and never missing a game, every club has one: a star volunteer.

We put on the hunt to find Gold Coast’s best.

Among the 40+ nominations? An array of committee members, coaches, mums and dads from clubs across the coast - including aussie rules, rugby union, netball, cricket and more!

Meet the winner, from Runaway Bay Little Athletics: coach Renè Doel.

A father of twins, Doel got his daughters involved in Little Athletics from five years old and has been a part of the club since, despite them aging out in 2023.

He was approached about joining the board in 2019 though it was far from expected.

“I came on board just to help out a little bit and the first few years was just about learning the ropes and doing what I could,” Doel said.

“At that stage I was too busy with work and just raising the kids.

René Doel of Runaway Bay Little Athletics club competing in Masters Javelin

“I never would have thought about being on the committee and when I got asked it was a daunting thing.”

In other words, his duties went from 0 to 100.

“I felt a little bit out of my depth, whether I could do the job ... was lucky I had the support of people around me.

“I couldn’t do it without the support of my family and my work.”

Doel himself participates in the Masters division on top of his role as Centre Manager and super coach.

He’s seen the club through the best of times and periods of hard work.

“At one stage our numbers were dropping at the club and we needed to work on the culture,” Doel said.

“We got some things happening, became more proactive and got Open Days going.”

Things paid off, with participation numbers doubling in 12 months followed by a continual steady climb over the past three seasons.

“We did a lot of thinking, got together a strategic plan and worked on our core values to really get that culture right ... to get a good number of athletes down here so that it’s competitive on a Friday night and get more families involved in the community.”

Runaway Bay Little Athletics now boasts over 400 members.

René Doel of Runaway Bay Little Athletics club

“The motto for Little Athletics is ‘fun, family and fitness’,” he said.

“So we’re focussed on that participation and encouraging each other.

“That’s what we see ... and there are some kids the excel at regional and state events.”

Doel said there were plenty of reasons why he’d stuck around for so long, but seeing hard work pay off trumped all.

“It’s a good opportunity to finish up the week on a Friday, get down there and watch your kids run around and socialise with their friends.

“You might be doing a training session and teaching kids some a technique in throws ... come Friday they’ll do a personal best and they’ll come up and see you.

“That makes it all worthwhile ... seeing the smiles on kids faces.”So, will coach Doel be staying put? Fortunately for Runaway Bay, it seems so.

“There’s no reason I’ll be leaving anytime soon,” he said.

“It’s the friendships and bonds with our team and families that keeps me coming back.

“We have a great bunch of people at the club that I love being a part of.”