‘Biblical’ weather event unable to drown sporting club spirits

Greenwood Park Sporting Complex at Kirwan, home to Redskins Touch and Rebels Football (Soccer) teams, was out of action for close to six months after flood water inundated the fields and club house in February. 

Thousands of junior, senior and veteran players, along with the family and supporters, local school teams and hundreds of volunteers plus the community depend on the fields. 

The organisation was facing tens of thousands of dollars worth of bills to fix the fields, lighting and electrical connection.  

Greenwood Park Sporting Complex president Rick Guerra said a Queensland Rural and Industry Development Authority-administered Special Disaster Assistance Recovery Grant for not-for-profits provided a much-needed cash injection to get the recovery process underway.  

“We’d be in a lot of trouble if we didn’t get the grant, it would have been chaos,” he said. 

“You needed that cash injection early to establish what’s next before all the other things come into play.  

“You feel helpless when it happens and you need the cash injection to move forward.”  

Mr Guerra said the funding was used to repair the facility and the flooded electrical equipment.  

“The electrical boxes are shot and the underground conduits were full of water,” he said.  

Mr Guerra said it was important for the clubs to get back on the field as soon as possible and restore a sense of normality.  

“When teams can’t train with the rest of the club, you lose club cohesion,” he said.  

“Clubs are a great part of the community, you become a member of a club, you become a member of a great family. When you lose that, you lose a sense of cohesion.

“It gives you hope and lifts your spirit when the grants were activated, it was overwhelming."

Greenwood Park Sporting Complex treasurer Ian Fricke said coaches, parents who run the canteen plus those responsible for maintaining the grounds and keeping the facility running, alongside players and supporters were unable to use the fields for up to six months.  

“You couldn’t prepare for it, there was nothing we could do,” he said. 

“After a disaster like this, we had to get back to normal as fast as we could. The lights were out so the clubs couldn’t train in the evenings. 

“If it’s not football or touch football, the community uses the field on the weekends and afternoons. People are down here all the time throwing Frisbees and flying model aeroplanes, it’s vital to the community.” 

The grounds were saturated for 10 days, with water up to waist deep across the fields at its peak. 

“When we first encountered the disaster and worked out we were going to need help, we found out there was funding available,” Mr Fricke said. 

“The grant application process was really good and it was really easy to get the grant.  

“Greenwood Park is not-for-profit so we don’t plan to make money or generate income so it was very difficult to move forward without the grant.  

“I found everyone throughout the entire organisation was really good. If we missed something on the application they could tell us what we needed to do. It was really good.” 

The association was able to access the funding within days of submitting the application.  

“We were able to engage the lighting technician and get the appropriate contractors to come and assess what’s going on,” Mr Fricke said. 

“It enabled us to open doors to start the process of recovery.” 

“We wouldn’t have been able to recover without the grant, we would be out there in the dark still.” 

Ian said a special thanks was due to the clubs and their members for their patience while the fields were restored.

“Hopefully come 2020 we will be in a much better position,” he said.  

Rebels president Doug Campbell said, while there was still work left to do, it was a welcome relief when players took to the field for the first time after the flood. 

“People couldn’t wait to get back to it, they really couldn’t,” he said. 

“I didn’t think how badly it would affect people until they started emailing and phoning asking when they can come back on the field. 

“The players, managers and parents haven’t left. They are all behind us in getting back up and running.” 

QRIDA offers a range of disaster recovery assistance. To see what’s currently available visit Disaster Recovery for non-profit organisations.

Queensland Rural and Industry Development Authority (QRIDA) administers financial assistance to disaster affected primary producers, businesses and non-profit organisations under the joint Commonwealth / Queensland Government funded Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements 2018.