You would be hard pressed to find someone more dedicated to their club than Penny Challinor.
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She took over as president of the Cudal and District Soccer Club back in 2013, around the same time she moved to town.
"My son was four at the time, turning five and he wanted to play soccer. The previous people had just left. I'm a soccer player myself, so I took it on," she said on why she decided to take on the club's top role.
"It was quite small back then, probably only three or four little teams. I was quite new to town and I didn't really know many in town, so it was a great way to meet people. I ended up coaching two under six teams in my first year as well."
The club has gone from strength to strength in that time, including a premiership win for their under 12s division one side in 2018. What made that achievement even more special was that it was the first time the club has fielded a competitive age side "in a long time."
"The things that I'm really proud of is some of those kids who were really little back then, they're the teenagers and the older kids and they're still in our club and still playing soccer," Challinor added.
"For me, that's so important to keep the kids engaged in the community, especially for the teenagers.
"We call ourselves Cudal and District because we take in quite a few of the other towns around. We've got players coming from Manildra, Cargo and Molong and all the farms in-between. It also means that we also don't field a team in every age group every year, but the last few years, Cudal has been very competitive."
Competitive would be an understatement. At the time when the 2021 season was cut short by COVID, Cudal had two of its three competitive age teams sitting atop their respective ladders. This included the fourth division all-age side which Challinor was a part of.
"I even got back to playing after a decade in retirement," she laughed.
Now, after nearly ten years in charge, Challinor decided that the time was right to step down from the role.
"I just really wanted someone else to have the opportunity," she said on making the tough decision.
"I've learnt so much from running the club over the years. There's heaps of people with young families coming along that I'd love to be able to pass it on to.
"It's such a wonderful club that I'd love to see it go on, but I think it's just time for someone else to do it. I'd like to thank everyone who has supported me."
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