Michelle Clarke making things tick at Kings Langley
Kings Langley Soccer Football Club secretary and hard-working volunteer Michelle Clarke is ramping up her hours once again as football prepares to recommence post COVID-19 break with the round ball game to kick off for teams Under 18’s and below from the 1st of July.
Having joined the club at the beginning of 2018 thanks to her son’s first season of football as a seven year old, Michelle quickly adapted to becoming one of the key figures in making things work behind the scenes at the Blacktown & Districts Soccer Football Association based side.
“I am a fairly structured person and when I started with the club, I worked on putting structure and processes in place.
“Since my time with the club, I have worked with them in getting the canteen upgraded, our uniform revamped and recently getting the clubhouse updated.
“This was down to the hard work and efforts of all the club volunteers – it takes an army to keep on improving and continual fundraising to be able to achieve such things.
“There is a lot involved in being the secretary, being across what is happening within the club as well as in the broader community, I know I’ve always got my finger on the pulse ensuring everything is in order.”
It has been a tough few months for Clarke and her family with their weekends being empty.
Her son is part of the club’s Under 9’s Development squad while her husband is one of the two coaches.
“It was devastating to be on hold and not have the season kick off when it was meant to originally.
“We had had one week of training and then we were on hold.
“I missed seeing the kids smiling faces, hearing how their week had been and seeing them run after the ball.
“I definitely missed the community.”
The Clarke family were given amazing news recently when the NSW Government, Office of Sport and Football NSW announced training sessions once more with restrictions easing further following the July 1st kick off for competitive matches from age groups Under 18 and below.
“It was amazing to hear that the restrictions had been lift, it was such a relief.
“We had been missing seeing the kids on the field.
“It requires a little more effort to keep safe, but it is well worth it to see the kids back training again and gearing up for some matches come July.”
Interestingly, Clarke first fell in love with the world game during the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney when she got to see the Australian Olympic Football team live in the flesh.
“I have to say I fell in love with football all over again during the 2000 Olympics when I got to see Australia play live.
“In the last three years I have learnt so much more and the love just deepens especially seeing the passion in the kids when they play.
“I played for a year when I was little (Under 6) but I think I spent more time running away from the boys then I did concentrating on the ball.
“I remember being the only girl on the team, it is so good to see so many girls involved now.”
Along with Clarke, the club has avid and passionate volunteers continuing on with the hard work in running an Association club.
“This year we are blessed to have 12 on the committee (steadily grown in the last two years) but it takes more than just the committee to run the club.
“Our coaches and managers are the backbone to making football come to life for the kids, without them, we couldn’t do it.
“Volunteers are the backbone of grassroots football.
“They are the ones that work tirelessly behind the scenes to ensure that everything keeps ticking along smoothly.
“The love and passion for the sport and desire to make a difference is what makes a great volunteer and we are blessed with having that at our club.”
The club’s media manager Dominic Andreacchio was quick to point out how lucky the club is to have Michelle under the Kings Langley banner.
“She is our pillar.
“She works tirelessly, is meticulous with every detail, is very smart and does it all with a big smile for the love of the kids and the game.
“We know she’s the rock here.”
