The Newport Junior Football Club has a long history with the neurological condition Multiple Sclerosis, which coach Amanda Joy said has been challenging.
Coach of the under 15’s girls team, Ms Joy said her family has suffered at the hands of the disease.
That’s why on Friday, June 16, the club is hosting its very own Big Freeze event to raise funds to fight MS.
“My nanna died from MS when I was five and then my dad was diagnosed 30 years later, I did lose them both,” she said.
“When something impacts you this much, you can’t sit still over it.”
Ms Joy said the team is currently doing a few different things to raise money as their assistant coach is also suffers from MS.
“Watching this poor man suffer really gets us so we are doing everything we can to fight this disease. These are the reasons why we do this sort of fundraising,” she said.
The club is planning to get all 15 coaches on board to participate in the event.
“We are shouting out to our community to let them know we are calling for their support,” Ms Joy said.
“We hope people contribute, any funds we get would be greatly appreciated.”
Ms Joy is planning to line up all the coaches in chairs behind each other.
The first person will tip an icy bucket of water back over their head for the coach behind them to attempt to catch in their own bucket and so forth, all while blindfolded.
“This method respects the coaches’ valuable time while also having fun and recognising people’s pain,” she said.
“We have a great team of girls who are very generous and supportive. They will participate in any way they can.”
Jennifer Pittorino
