Coolamon Hoppers lifting community spirits for 125 years

As captain-coach of a regional football team, Jamie Maddox thrives on seeing the mood of his town lift on the back of victory.

From left, Luke Redfern, Cooper Mckelvie and Jamie Maddox of the Coolamon Hoppers. Picture: Brad Newman.

As captain-coach of a regional football team, Jamie Maddox thrives on seeing the mood of his town lift on the back of victory.

His club, the Coolamon Hoppers, based near Wagga Wagga in southern NSW, turns 125 next month, making it one of the oldest regionals clubs in the nation.

“There is a really good crowd that gets down to the footy and the locals support the footy club really well,” Mr Maddox said.

“It is always a really good vibe around the place when the footy is on, and when we happen to be winning games it brings the whole town together.”

The pending anniversary for the club, which has won 12 premierships since it was founded in 1894, has been noted by Acting Prime Minister Michael McCormack, who used it to highlight the importance of sporting teams in regional areas.

“Football clubs are more than just a weekend recreational outlet in regional areas,” Mr McCormack writes in an opinion piece available on The Weekend Aust­ralian’s digital platforms today.

The Coolamon Hoppers’ premiership side of 1920, one of 12 sides to have taken the flag over the past 125 years.

“Indeed, they are often the very essence of the particular commun­ity they represent … the heartbeat of the local town … a barometer as to how the district is faring.

“That is very much what the football club has meant to Coolamon and the wider Riverina over the past century and a quarter.

“And it is particularly prevalent when times have been tough … when an economic downturn, a natural disaster or a tragedy has taken its toll on locals. The football club has been there to lift flagging spirits.”

Mr McCormack says the club has resisted calls to merge and change its colours to align with a Melbourne AFL franchise.

“Many bush clubs meekly and merely acquiesced. Coolamon, boldly and typically, refused to comply,” he says. “It stuck with tradition. It kept its unique design. No one in Melbourne or local headquarters was going to tell Coolamon to dispense with ­decades of green and white.”

Coolamon Mayor John Seymour said the culture of the football club helped turn young men into good members of the ­community.

“It gives them something to do,’’ Mr Seymour said. “They are training two nights a week and (at) the games at the ­weekend. It keeps them occupied.’’

Country Rugby League chief executive Terry Quinn said region­al sporting teams helped keep spirits up in times of drought.

“Sometimes it is the focus of the town and it is the main structure that keeps the town going, particularly in smaller towns,” Mr Quinn said. “It gives the opportunity for people to be part of a club.

“If you are a farmer in drought, their moods are very much down and towns can be in a depressive state but the footy kind of brings that camaraderie together.”