For Tennis SA’s City/Hills Volunteer Achievement Award recipient Brandon Oster, his tennis career at Enfield Tennis Club began at just 11 years of age. Eighteen years later, he is the President of both Enfield Tennis Club and North East Tennis Association (NETA).
“Once I finished juniors, the following year I took on the Junior Coordinator position with my mate. After a couple of years, I moved on to the Men’s Club Captain role for two years and now I’ve been President of Enfield Tennis Club for the last six,” said Oster.
“I’ve been on the NETA committee for around eight years now, running the juniors for around seven of that and President for the last three years.”
A willingness to learn and wanting to make a difference led Oster to take on his first volunteer role at the age of just 19.
“Our Junior Coordinator (who had taken me through all of my juniors) was ready to move on to another role on the committee after 12 years. I looked at that with one of my mates who had just finished juniors as well and thought we’d like to do that. The people at the club were very supportive of that and helped us out,” he explained.
“I’d always shown an interest in how things run and operate. I just decided that I wanted to go to a NETA AGM one year and they were looking for people for the committee. The President at the time asked if we’d like to join the committee. I asked ‘what do you do?’ and he said ‘you just come to meetings’. I thought no worries, but all of a sudden we were running the joint!”
Oster spoke of the positive impact of volunteering has had on not only his life, but the on the community as a whole.
“I think getting to see how an organisation runs can be a bit eye opening in a way. You sit back as a non-committee member or volunteer and you can sort of wonder how things run. Many think that they couldn’t take on a role, but as you start to get involved you start to realise that it’s not quite as hard as maybe it seems and you certainly build some experience along the way.
“The other thing is the people I’ve got to know. You really feel the sense of community when you are in these roles and to do a good job you need to be involved, meet and speak to people.”
Oster is passionate in encouraging others to get involved in volunteering at their club, no matter their age or experience.
“We are a very young committee which you don’t see at too many clubs, but I guess to have a whole group of young people who want to be involved and get things done for the better is great to see. I am really proud of our committee.”
“Don’t be afraid to have a go. If you feel you want to get involved, don’t wait to be asked, speak to someone on the committee. You might not be sure about getting involved on the committee straight away, but if you want to help out it might be in the canteen for a couple of hours, organising a couple of teams or opening the club up before a match.
“It might only be in a little way, but that can be such a great help and can take some of the pressure off those who do a lot of work around the club. Just don’t be afraid to ask.”
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