Mid-season, it provided one of the three monthly winners in the WorkSafe Favourite Football Farmer award in Kyle Mueller.
Now it has a dual connection, courtesy of the 2023 WorkSafe AFL Victoria Country Volunteer of the Year award winner, Ian (Cactus) Howard.
There was another Kyabram twist during the presentation at Ikon Park in Carlton recently.
Ian said he got a ‘’hell of a shock’’ when presented with the award.
‘‘They told me I was in the mix to get an award, but I didn’t expect anything like this,“ he said.
“It is a huge honour.’’
Ian was presented with his award by another Kyabram Football Club product, Ash West, a WorkSafe senior executive and former Kyabram footballer who shared the GVL thirds Pattison Medal with Shepparton Swans’ Jason Rachele in 1993 and won his team’s best-and-fairest award in that season.
In presenting the award, Mr West said: “WorkSafe is proud of its long support of country football and netball, and we congratulate Ian on his many years of dedicated service.
“Volunteers are the driving force behind every local club, and as a former Kyabram player myself, I know just how important people like Ian are to keeping their clubs and communities strong.”
Also at the official presentation was WorkSafe ambassador and retired AFL star Tom Boyd, who played with Western Bulldogs.
Ian, who lives in Shepparton these days, has given 60 years of voluntary service to the local community, and his other honours include being awarded life membership of the Kyabram Umpires and the Goulburn Valley League.
He has served as the GVL tribunal secretary for the past seven years and has been a member of the GVL board, GVL interleague teams and GVL Hall of Fame committee.
He commenced playing in 1954 at the Kyabram Boys Club in the Kyabram District Football League and played 16 games with Footscray (now known as Western Bulldogs) in 1960.
After injury ended his career in the VFL, he returned to Kyabram, where he coached Kyabram under-18s and Lancaster.
At the completion of his playing days, he went on to help form the Kyabram Football Umpires Association, where he was president for over 10 years.
ANOTHER OGDEN HEADING TO KY
Kyabram Football Club is building a strong midfield brigade for next season with another signing.
Eamon Ogden will join his brother Liam at the Bombers next season.
Eamon at one stage was on Essendon’s VFL list, played in a premiership side with Keilor in the Essendon District Football League and this season with Bacchus Marsh in the Ballarat football league.
Eamon is a hard-running, highly rated midfielder who will join Mick Mattingly, the 2019 Morrison Medallist, who is returning to the club.
ROCHY LANDS NEW RECRUITS
Rochester’s list of recruits for the 2024 season also continues to grow.
Echuca United’s Bailey Boyack and Kangaroo Flat’s Ryan O’Keefe are the latest newcomers to commit to the Goulburn Valley league Tigers.
Boyack finished runner-up in Echuca United’s best-and-fairest award this season, and O’Keefe won Kangaroo Flat’s top award.
Tall and versatile O’Keefe is a former Bendigo Pioneer, who played a game for the Sydney Swans’ VFL side in 2021.
Rochester has also signed a Kangaroo Flat teammate of O’Keefe’s, Mitch Trewhella, who was runner-up in the club’s best-and-fairest award this season.
NAGAMBIE CALLS ON HARLEY
Kyabram League club Nagambie has had a change of coaches.
Harley Taylor-Lloyd has been appointed head coach to replace Tyrone Muir.
Taylor-Lloyd was a non-playing deputy to Muir this year and intended to play, but a hip injury has ended his playing days.
He is excited about taking the top job with the Lakers, pointing out they had 10 players under 21 in the team that made this season’s grand final, where Nagambie came up short against the Lancaster machine.
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