Stand By Sandy: Anthony Vella

Over the next couple of months here at the Sandringham Football Club, we will be getting to know some of the volunteers that help make this club great. While it is the players that do the work on the field, it is the equally important off field contributions by volunteers that often go unnoticed.

First cab off the rank is three-time, and reigning, Extra Mile Award winner, Anthony Vella.

Anthony has been with Sandy for around five years now and has had countless roles in that time. He first got involved to help give his son Josh a hand with his role at the club and has since become one of the club’s key and most respected volunteers.

“Early on I was helping him (Josh) out where I could, basically I went to watch some games and then I realised he was carrying a lot of load physically, you know a lot of gear to lug around when he was doing the stats,” he said.

“So I was giving him a hand with that and he was usually the first one there and the last one to leave, so I’d hang around with him and give him a hand to unload at the end of the day.”

From there Josh was asked to drive the property van to and from games, but when he found out he needed a manual licence, Anthony agreed to help out there too.

About four years ago, Vella added another feather to his cap when he was put in charge of the scoreboard for home matches, something which he really enjoyed doing. Maybe even a little too much.

“I was distracted a lot of the time because I was watching the game and every now and again you’d have to hit yourself in the head to remind yourself to do the score,” he said.

Like everyone, 2020 has been a struggle for Anthony, especially without footy.

“It was a big part of my life,” he said.

“You know footy, it sort of helps you. On a personal thing I was going through some stuff and just having to sink my teeth into something so fully, plus being involved with Josh of course, gave me something to focus on and something to look forward to on the weekends.”

Outside of footy Anthony works as a Project Officer for the Knox Council, which fortunately for him hasn’t been hugely affected by Covid-19 restrictions.

In the past he’s also had hobbies to keep him busy, including his motorbike and photography.

“I had a motorbike for a while,” he said.

“I bought a brand new one, but I ended up headbutting the back of a car with it unfortunately, so that’s gone.”

“Photography initially that’s what I was doing early on as well, just going to take photos at games, mainly of Josh and what he was doing, but also the footy.”

“I tend to take it (the camera) with me to all the games, just for the great opportunity of being able to use it. We had a couple of games at Marvel last year and getting that opportunity is rare.”

The opportunity to do what he does with Sandringham is something Anthony really appreciates. When asked what he loves about Sandy he offered this.

“Football clubs are made up of people, you know it’s not the four walls, it’s not the footballs, it’s not the grass, it’s the people,” he said.

“And good football clubs are made up of good people. And I think Sandringham’s fortunate in that they’ve got a lot there at the moment and in the past four years since I’ve been there.”

“You’ve only got to look at someone like Brucey Bowles. You’ve got to mention Brucey when you’re talking about volunteers, that man’s been there for 31 years. It’s hard to fathom, putting that much time in without taking one cent out of the club. Pretty amazing.”

Like players receive trophies for performance, there exists an award at Sandringham to recognise volunteers, known as the Extra Mile Award. As mentioned previously, Anthony has won this award for the last three years in a row. The Extra Mile Award, as its name suggests, is given to the volunteer who is deemed to go that “extra mile” in helping the club, day in and day out. Anthony is modest when talking about what is an incredible achievement and reiterates how grateful he is for the time he gets to spend with his son.

“I don’t do it for that (the award), but I guess it’s nice to be recognised,” he said.

“For someone to be able to spend so much time with his son at his job and his job happens to be something that we both love, which is footy at a club that we enjoy being at, I think we’re both lucky.”

Written by Matthew Hughes - Sandringham Football Club Media