Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / Katie Woolf spoke with Winner of the NT Volunteer of the Year for her work with basketball Donna Hurst

Transcript

Katie Woolf spoke with Winner of the NT Volunteer of the Year for her work with basketball Donna Hurst · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: But as some of you may be aware, over the
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: course of the weekend, we do know that the Northern
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: Territory Sports Awards were held and they recognized the outstanding
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: achievements of Territory athletes, coaches, sporting officials and volunteers. And
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: the winner of the Northern Territory Volunteer of the Year
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: for her work in basketball is Donna Hurst and she
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: joins me on the line right now. Good morning, Donna.
• 0:24
  Speaker 2: Good morning Takie. How are you really well?
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: Lovely to have you on the show. Donna. What made
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: you decide to get involved in basketball?
• 0:34
  Speaker 2: Well, do you want to go back that side? I
• 0:37
  Speaker 2: was back in nineteen eighty three when I was working
• 0:42
  Speaker 2: at the Museum and Night Galleries of the Northern Territory, YEP.
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: And there was the two of us there wanted two
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: play basketball, so putting a menngine women's team, and from
• 0:54
  Speaker 2: there we just grew. So we were called the Museum
• 0:57
  Speaker 2: Eagles back then. And then as we grew and pit
• 1:03
  Speaker 2: players came to us who weren't working with them, we
• 1:07
  Speaker 2: just changed it to Egors YEP. And this year we grew.
• 1:10
  Speaker 2: We had thirty two teams in the competition.
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: Wow, So Donna, thirty seven years? Have you been involved
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: in basketball that whole time?
• 1:21
  Speaker 2: I've been the secretary of the club for thirty seven years.
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: You are a legend. That's amazing.
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: It is. And on top of that, you know, I've
• 1:32
  Speaker 2: coached multiple teams every every season. You know, when we
• 1:36
  Speaker 2: started out, i was coaching fourteen teams a week. This
• 1:40
  Speaker 2: year I'm back to seven, which is more manageable from
• 1:44
  Speaker 2: me because I work full time too.
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: Yeh, Donna, I tell you all the other.
• 1:50
  Speaker 2: Things that go with what a volunteer needs to do
• 1:53
  Speaker 2: to keep a club surviving.
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: Yeah, what's it been like for you over those years, say,
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: you know, seeing the club grow from having that one
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: team to having the number of teams that you currently
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: do now.
• 2:09
  Speaker 2: It's actually been quite amazing, Katie. I mean, I've coached
• 2:14
  Speaker 2: heaps of two generations in a family, but there were
• 2:20
  Speaker 2: a few three generations. Yep. Some of them are quite memorial,
• 2:26
  Speaker 2: like I've coached Kate Warden, her husband and her two children.
• 2:31
  Speaker 2: Over the years, I've coached teams where I've had members
• 2:36
  Speaker 2: of both SILP and Labor on the same team.
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: Love it.
• 2:43
  Speaker 2: It's been amazing.
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: A oh, Donna, or.
• 2:45
  Speaker 2: Might have to have a passion for the game. Yeah,
• 2:48
  Speaker 2: if you don't have a passion for the game, then
• 2:50
  Speaker 2: you know you really can't be there. But I had
• 2:53
  Speaker 2: a deep passion for because my daughter I sort of
• 2:56
  Speaker 2: started playing Nicky many years ago, and a coach two
• 3:02
  Speaker 2: in those early stages, I thought, well, you know, I
• 3:05
  Speaker 2: need to keep pressing who friends wanted to play and
• 3:09
  Speaker 2: all that. But it's just it's also important when you're
• 3:14
  Speaker 2: a volunteer to have a really great support group. And
• 3:18
  Speaker 2: I've got a really great support group at the moment,
• 3:22
  Speaker 2: small there's only four of us, but they're really great
• 3:25
  Speaker 2: that we get things done well.
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: And it's so important, donnor I mean, anybody that's been
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: involved for a sporting club. My father used to be
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: a swiming coach for years and years, and I've been
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: involved in plenty of sports when I was younger, and
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: those sports simply cannot happen if you don't have volunteers
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: and people like yourself ensuring that clubs continue to operate.
• 3:47
  Speaker 2: That's right. There's only so many dollars that can go around,
• 3:52
  Speaker 2: so that's when the volunteers step in and do all
• 3:56
  Speaker 2: the fundraising and just look after the team. Moment import
• 4:02
  Speaker 2: what we call imports. I don't like that task import players,
• 4:05
  Speaker 2: which is players from America come over and I've been
• 4:08
  Speaker 2: housing them for the last ten years. Every year we
• 4:12
  Speaker 2: have input players.
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: Yeah, oh, Donna, that is amazing and I can understand
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: exactly why you were named the Northern Territory Volunteer of
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: the Year at the Northern Territory Sports Awards. But Donna,
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: I understand you've ever had a big week? What else
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: has happened?
• 4:30
  Speaker 2: Do you want to know about row week? I do?
• 4:32
  Speaker 2: Go on, Well, it started on Monday night last week.
• 4:38
  Speaker 2: My house has broken into and lots of things stolen,
• 4:41
  Speaker 2: so that was the bad thing just to start off with.
• 4:45
  Speaker 2: Then we had grand finals throughout the week, and then
• 4:49
  Speaker 2: we hosted because our league men were in the grand
• 4:51
  Speaker 2: final on Saturday night, so me and Anne Marie Rigley,
• 4:55
  Speaker 2: which is my team manager, hosted a formal dinner, uh
• 5:00
  Speaker 2: you know, cooking like they had on Friday night. Sunday,
• 5:04
  Speaker 2: we're at the stadium all day from ten o'clock our
• 5:08
  Speaker 2: first game, supporting all our junior teams. Then I coached
• 5:12
  Speaker 2: my under sixteen boys that was from five till six.
• 5:18
  Speaker 2: We won that grand final. Awesome, Amory talked about wasn't
• 5:23
  Speaker 2: going to go to the Sports Awards because I had
• 5:24
  Speaker 2: such a busy day in basketball Rand final day, But
• 5:28
  Speaker 2: Ann Marie talked me and saying, you have to go.
• 5:30
  Speaker 2: So we've raced into the Sports Awards and we were
• 5:33
  Speaker 2: there from six point thirty to that seven forty five
• 5:40
  Speaker 2: and that big surprise. Yeah, and then we had to
• 5:45
  Speaker 2: race back out to basketball because I was coaching the
• 5:47
  Speaker 2: men's league in their grand final at eight thirty. So wow,
• 5:53
  Speaker 2: we won that. Yeah, I thought nothing can top off.
• 5:56
  Speaker 2: This week has been amazing. And then last night they
• 5:59
  Speaker 2: went out to my daughter's place for dinner. On the
• 6:02
  Speaker 2: way home, I think it was just that one was
• 6:05
  Speaker 2: my fault, I right off my car. Oh no, yes,
• 6:11
  Speaker 2: in hospital.
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: Oh my goodness.
• 6:14
  Speaker 2: That was a big week, Donna.
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: I tell you what you've had a Well, you've had
• 6:20
  Speaker 1: a few ups and downs, to say the least.
• 6:23
  Speaker 2: And the lows. I started with a low on Monday,
• 6:27
  Speaker 2: finished with a low on Sunday, but had all those
• 6:29
  Speaker 2: highs in the middle.
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: Well, I tell you what. I Well, let's give you
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: another high because I think you deserve to be our territory.
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: And of the week. This week, we have got a
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: beautiful care package supplied by nevill At parrap fine foods
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: with gourmet goodness for your goodness, and it sounds like
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: you are well and truly our territory and of the week.
• 6:51
  Speaker 2: Donna. Oh, thank you very much.
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: Oh that's okay. You sound like a wonderful woman and
• 6:58
  Speaker 1: somebody that everybody will want on their club. I reckon, Oh, Donna,
• 7:06
  Speaker 1: you're a legend. I really appreciate you having a chat
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: with me this morning, and you know what, like on
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: behalf of the whole community as well. Thank you for
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: all of that work that you do for the sporting
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: club because I know that you know. I don't play
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: basketball and my kids don't play basketball, but I know
• 7:22
  Speaker 1: how important it is to have wonderful people like you
• 7:26
  Speaker 1: who are part of those clubs. So thank you for
• 7:28
  Speaker 1: all that you do.
• 7:30
  Speaker 2: I appreciate.
• 7:31
  Speaker 1: Good come no worries at all, Donnor. It is an
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: absolute pleasure to talk to you this morning. And I
• 7:37
  Speaker 1: hope that you're okay following on from that crash.
• 7:41
  Speaker 2: Bone in one hand. So that's all seatbelt?
• 7:49
  Speaker 1: Oh no, yeah, I reckon. Well, let's hope. I hope
• 7:54
  Speaker 1: that that care package helps you in some way as well.
• 7:57
  Speaker 1: I'm sure it'll be lovely to have that and have
• 7:59
  Speaker 1: some beautiful food in there. No, God, thank you, Donna.
• 8:04
  Speaker 1: Lovely to talk to you this morning. I tell you,
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: what a phenomenal lady Donna Hurst there. She's the Northern
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: Territory Sports Awards Volunteer of the Year. Hearing about how
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: she speaks about the basketball club, the Eagles, is wonderful.
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: Thirty seven years to be part of that basketball club,
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: It's quite amazing. And then when she's just told us
• 8:29
  Speaker 1: about the highs and the lows of her last week.
• 8:32
  Speaker 1: She is definitely our territory and of the week. What
• 8:35
  Speaker 1: a woman.