Darren Sinclair back as president of Orange Waratah Football Club

From John Sinclair - who helped found the club all the way back in the 1960s - to Jack and Ryan Sinclair, who were part of the sky blues squad to win the 2022 Western Premier League, it's certainly a family affair up in north Orange.

But in-between those generations of footballers comes Darren Sinclair, who has spent nearly his entire life involved with the club in one sense or another.

"I was in the first junior side when I was four years old and I've been with the club ever since," the now 55-year-old said.

"There's a lot of people still involved who started the club, like my father's mates are mates of mine and mates of my kids, so it's a very family orientated club."

But Mr Sinclair is far from just a fly on the wall within the organisation.

At the recent Waratahs annual general meeting, he was once again voted in as club president. Next season will mark his 23^rd year in the role and he doesn't have plans on giving up the top job any time soon.

"It's like everything, you've got a bit of a legacy there so you've got to put your hand up and step up to run things when it's needed," he added.

"I was very proud to take over the presidency and I'm still proud to this day."

Like any volunteer role, running a sporting club revolves around a lot of late night meetings, early morning starts and everything in-between.

"We're a little bit different to a lot of other clubs because we've got our own ground and stuff up here," the Tahs president added.

"It's an all-round kind of job. We mark grounds and as a senior club we help out the juniors a lot.

"There's a lot of roles that we play and being involved with the sports club here, we're part of their precinct, so we meet with the club itself... but I'm the president of the club as well, so I'm meeting with myself half the time."

"There's a lot of roles, but it's all about coordinating and making sure things run smoothly."

No longer a football player himself, Mr Sinclair hung up the boots about five years ago.

Having played the game since he was a child, that prospect of no longer taking to the pitch was harder than you would imagine.

"It's was part of my life for a long, long time," he said

"You turn up and have a run with your mates like everyone does and then all of a sudden that stops. So that's probably the biggest disappointment of not continuing, is not playing with your mates anymore."

But while Mr Sinclair may not be playing anymore, the club itself has enjoyed great success in recent years.

Waratahs took home this year's WPL minor premiership and premiership, while also featuring heavily in the Orange and District Football Association grand finals.

"It was a great feeling," Mr Sinclair said of the WPL side's success.

"Obviously a lot of commitment goes into it from the boys and the coaching staff. It just fulfils a good year because you've worked pretty hard to get to where you are.

"I feel that the minor premiership is the most important thing because it shows you're the most consistent team. So we got that and ticked one box, and then to win the premiership capped things off."

After so many years serving as club president, Mr Sinclair has seen more than his fair share of changes. The most notable comes away from the pitch.

"I find that work commitments are probably the hardest thing to deal with now," he added.

"We used to have teams of 15 or 16, but now you've got to have teams of 21 or 22 just to cover week in and week out commitments.

"I think that goes with all sport. Everybody is either working shift work at the mine or shift work somewhere, that's probably the biggest change I've found."

So why does he keep at it and why would he encourage others to get on board?

"You get a good feeling that you're doing something worth while," Mr Sinclair said.

"I don't do it because I want accolades or anything like that, I just enjoy the comradery with everyone and it gives you a good feeling that you're doing something for other people."

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