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Altona Magic Soccer Club coach Adam Longshaw has described how he re-evaluated his work-life balance and took on more volunteering since the COVID-19 pandemic.
This has enabled him to pursue his passion to make the club’s facility safe, inclusive and inviting for all players and parents, and to help grow participation in the sport for girls and women.
The club has an ambitious 10-point plan, which includes growing community participation by 100 per cent and having the only elite NPLW team in Hobsons Bay.
It also aims to continue supporting the most disadvantaged by doubling special funding pools to cover registration fees and improving access for those with disabilities or special needs.
Having previously spent many years working for a corporate multinational, which took him away from family and the community for months at a time, Longshaw first made some life changes in 2019 just before the coronavirus hit
“I spent quite a bit of my time in the UK, in Spain, in Saudi Arabia – a whole heap of places – so, while I actively assisted with coaching, my role in terms of my employment took me away from Australia probably for three months a year,” Longshaw said.
“After doing that for probably 10 years, my wife and my son – and my son plays soccer at the club -– kind of had enough of it.
“So, in 2019 I actually started up my own consultancy business, which is what I run here in Australia now.
“In starting up my own consultancy business, I guess I had the opportunity to say I’ve actually got more time to actually do some things that are not so much work-related and are more community and social related.”
Longshaw is among Hobsons Bay volunteers featured in a touring photo exhibition launched this week for National Volunteer Week.
More than 12,000 people volunteer in Hobsons Bay, according to the 2016 Census, an increase of 26 percent since the previous Census (the next census is on 10 August 2021).
Longshaw said the coronavirus further impacted his volunteering.
“COVID impacted that in the sense of, the season starts, stops, starts, stopped, didn’t happen at all in 2020,” he said.
“2021’s been slightly different.”
Longshaw started helping the club out more with general administration tasks, ordering uniforms and working with Hobsons Bay council to create a safe and inclusive facility.
“Apart from coaching, now I do a range of other tasks, given my background, that maybe others at the club either don’t have the experience to do or are unable to do,” he said.
“That includes, we’re about to launch a new website for the club … and we’ve done a lot of work to submit a proposal to the council around the current issues and challenges at the facility as they relate to inclusion and safety, which is a big one for us.
“Council wants inclusive facilities, they want them to be safe and they especially want them to be inviting for women and girls to increase their participation in sports and recreation.
“We have done a lot of work to say, if those are the council’s goals, this is what would need to change at the club to actually enable that to happen because the current facility isn’t inviting, it isn’t safe and isn’t really appropriate to grow women’s participation in sports and recreation.
“Not just for Hobsons Bay council – it is a goal for all western suburbs’ councils to address that; it’s a major point.”
The volunteers exhibition is at Williamstown Community and Education Centre from May 20-26, South Kingsville Community Centre from May 28-June 9 and Laverton Community Hub from June 11-18.
