Tell Arstargazer is a new, but regular, feature at the Bluewater Fitness Centre Stadium as a volunteer Registration Desk Attendant for the Colac Basketball Association’s Senior Competition. Read Tell's story.

Tell Arstargazer is a new, but regular, feature at the Bluewater Fitness Centre Stadium as a volunteer Registration Desk Attendant for the Colac Basketball Association's Senior Competition.

Tell, who is studying hospitality, was interested in undertaking some customer service roles to build his work related experiences. Thanks to the advice of the Public Advocate, the support of Leisure Networks, and the interest of the basketball association to include people of all abilities, Tell is now an integral part of the Colac Basketball competition.

Tell says that he really enjoys volunteering and that the first day was made easier having volunteered for the All Abilities Basketball League (AABL) prior to embarking on his Association role. During the eight weeks that the AABL ran in Colac, Tell played a major part in the registration and administrative areas – in fact, he pretty much ran that side of the league according to Leisure Networks representatives.

Presently, Tell is 'on the door', taking team payments and registrations for the Senior Basketball Competition. However, according to Bev Bauer, Treasurer and assigned mentor, the Basketball Association has lots of plans for him, including some clerical work and potentially scoring.

As a Life Member of the Association, and a volunteer herself for 35 years, Bev knows well the virtues of volunteering and Tell is learning of them quickly too. 'I reckon if they wanted me for 30 years, I'd be there,' he says. 'It's a really relaxed environment, the people are really friendly and I've met lots of people. It's also nice and close to home so I can walk'. Bev agrees that Tell is very enthusiastic about his involvement with the Association and that he makes a very valuable contribution to the running of the competition.

The Colac Basketball Association is one of a number of sporting clubs in Colac that have taken an interest in people of all abilities taking on much valued volunteer roles. This is part of an initiative developed by Leisure Networks called Active Colac which works with clubs and people with a disability to assist build the links. Community connection is important for everyone and volunteers are hard to find.

In recognition of the inclusive manner in which the Colac Basketball Association conducts its business, they have received an Honorable Mention from the Colac Otway Shire Mayor as part of the annual Good Access Awards. Pleasingly, Tell himself was also acknowledged through the awards as joint WINNER of the Community Service Award.

For more information about Active Colac or volunteer roles on offer, please contact Pat Brown, Leisure Networks on (03) 5224 9926 or patrick@leisurenetworks.org

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