Queanbeyan Tigers successful on and off the field
Tigers' digital focus on Good For Footy fundraising proves to be a winner.
In partnership with Toyota.
Queanbeyan has a strong place in the history of AFL; it was the birthplace of Thomas Wills, widely regarded as the founder of the sport.
The town also has a strong club.
The Queanbeyan Tigers celebrated 100 years last year and won the premiership in three grades. However, it wasn't an easy road to its centenary, with several instances of having to withdraw from the league or merge with competitors due to a lack of players and financial struggles.
The turning point came when the Tigers Licensed Club opened in 1983. The reinvigorated club has since held a regular spot in grand finals and is now one of the most successful clubs in the league.
Its home ground, the Patches Asphalt Park, is graded as an ELITE AFL Venue within the QPRC region and is ranked the number two facility within AFL Canberra.
Club General Manager Kane Cawse said the club gets a lot of support from the local community.
"Queanbeyan is a very sporting town, and while we're not a big town, we've always been pretty successful - we've got two very successful rugby league teams in the town as well.
"So community-wise, everyone expects us - and certainly the two rugby league teams - to always be up there winning premierships. You get a lot of people that turn up to watch both codes."
Kane said the seniors club has 180 volunteers and players across five grades in both mens' and womens' competitions, and that its volunteers are the reason their ground is maintained at such a high level.
"The council help where they can, but most of that's been generated by our volunteers coming in every afternoon, mowing lawns, trimming hedges, applying for grants - all that sort of stuff so we can get new facilities, whether it's grandstands or new lights."
To help fund this maintenance, this year the senior club is participating in the Toyota Good for Footy Raffle.
The raffle offers a chance to win one of 47 prizes, including three new cars, from a prize pool worth nearly $300,000. Tickets are $5 and all ticket proceeds go to the club selling the tickets.
Kane said the juniors previously ran the raffle, but when it went digital, it became much easier for the seniors to be involved.
"We struggled to get sales to start, so I went in the back end and printed everyone's QR code, laminated it and gave it to them on game day and said, 'keep this in your pocket and show your friends'. And that's what they've been doing: walking around with the QR code, and their family and friends have just been scanning it and buying tickets."
This strategy has paid off.
At the time of writing, the Queanbeyan Tigers were sitting comfortably in the top 10 leaderboard of raffle sales with more than $7500.
"As our target, I put $10,000 down so we're really hoping we can get there. It will definitely ease a lot of pressure in trying to fundraise elsewhere, and make sure the money is there to pay the bills.
"We've bought our own ride-on lawn mower, which needs maintenance and fuel, and we pay for our own electricity and so on, so these funds will go to the general upkeep of the ground."
To buy tickets, or for more information, visit toyotagoodforfooty.raffletix.com.au.
- This article has been produced in partnership with Toyota
