IT WOULD not be unfair to describe David and Vivienne Bertenshaw as two of the Hawkesbury’s hardest working sports volunteers.
Simply put, the pair enjoy what they do, and that is what keeps the pair, both aged 65, going, even though it means Friday is the only night a week they get free.
“A lot of people think when they turn up to play sport that is it,” David said.
“They don't understand that in preparing things for those games there is a lot that goes into it, not just me but a lot of other people volunteer their time too.
“From both our points of view, the opportunity to mentor younger people who come through is what it is about. It is a privilege and very enjoyable.”
Vivienne is the vice-president of Hawkesbury City Netball Club, while David is the current president of Hawkesbury City Football Club.
“I’m part of Football NSW, I chair the standing committee for the NPL 3 division, I was director at the Richmond club until 2015, president of the Hawkesbury Sports Council,” David said.
“I’ve been asked in the past how long I will do this for and my answer is as long I can provide excellent playing facilities for the kids in the district then I am happy to continue on with it.”
David’s association with Hawkesbury City started in 1983 as a coach, but his involvement gradually became greater.
“As a coach I saw the need to develop kids to play at the state league level in the Hawkesbury area,” he said.
“The rest came as I got more and more involved with clubs in the area.
“A lot of our sports people achieve at the highest level, so we're doing something right.”
Vivienne said played netball when she was younger in another district before moving to Hawkesbury.
She played for a time, and then moved into the coaching circle.
“I started coaching my daughters as well as other teams,” she said.
“I was involved in Londonderry for a while and I coached three teams at once, because there were no other coaches. I did some umpiring as well.”
She still coaches now.
“I am the assistant coach of the Metro League team, and I coach Net-Set-Go, which is all the little babies, because if you don't coach them they don't become Metro League players,” she said.
“Personally, I just like it. I like passing my knowledge off to others.”
The pair ask for little reward. They attest there is no money in it for either of them, nor would they have it that way, because for them it is not about the money.
David said he was proud of what he has been able to achieve for Hawkesbury City in particular, but also Hawkesbury sport as a whole.
“We're in a position where we can provide good facilities,” he said.
“When we get visitors from inner city areas they are just astounded by what we have, compared to what they are able to get.
“My love is football, but I do like all sports and I don't really distinguish between one or the other.”
True to form, when the pair had finished talking to the Gazette, David had to rush off to mark lines at the field named after him at Bensons Lane for football across the weekend.
