The Mid South Eastern Football League is the toast of the state football community after it cleaned up the recent SANFL Community Volunteer Awards dinner at the Adelaide Oval.
MSEFL president Peter Mitchell, secretary Naomi Mitchell, umpire Neil Weber and junior club coach Tim Little all received a huge round of applause after being recognised with awards.
On a night where almost 100 tireless contributors to the game were in attendance, one of the loudest cheers was saved for the man in charge of the MSEFL.
Peter Mitchell was named as the Administrator of the Year and the honour caught him completely off guard.
“I did not know anything about it,” he said.
“I thought Naomi may have been in line for it because she won it in 2013 and did a very good job this year and it always goes to a secretary.
“A president has never won it before, so I was gob smacked.”
The SANFL believed the MSEFL president displayed “outstanding leadership in handling fixture alterations due to border restrictions, plus being a passionate advocate for Interleague and Zone football”.
Mitchell ensured the MSEFL could complete a full season with a special Grand Final day at Tantanoola on Saturday, September 18, plus helped revive the Interleague carnival at McLaughlin Park during a busy year.
“Everyone was in the same boat, so it was all about looking at when we wanted to complete the season,” he said.
“We could have gone longer than originally planned, but we felt it would be in the best interests of everyone to work back from the AFL Grand Final.
“The main concern was if we had another lockdown we might have been forced to have a short finals series with a top three, so it worked out nicely that did not happen.
“We also spoke to all football and netball clubs to make sure they were well area of all the scenarios and had their COVID plans completed.
“The clubs stepped up because it was all well thought and planned out.”
Peter’s secretary and wife Naomi, was one of just five recipients of the merit award.
She was presented with her prize from last year’s postponed presentations night and Peter Mitchell said his Naomi well and truly earned it.
“I nominated her last year for her outstanding service over a long period of time and she did not know that,” Peter Mitchell said.
“Over 13 years in that role she has been a very good administrator doing a marvellous job getting things sorted.
“It works pretty well having that team and I am very proud.”
Mitchell said few had been around the Mid South Eastern scene as much as respected umpire Weber.
“He started as a football player at Tantanoola playing 158 B Grade games,” he said.
“But he got hurt and instead of playing on he turned to umpiring in the junior grades.
“His first A Grade umpiring game was around 1995 and has overseen the umpire’s group for almost a decade.
“I know he has done 423 A Grade games and 15 A Grade Grand Finals in the field, so he has made an outstanding contribution.”
Mitchell said Little’s achievement is also one that has surfaced after years of time and energy.
“Tim has been involved at Mount Burr for a number of years and is very passionate about footy,” he said.
“He has done a marvelous job at the club and contributed to the Interleague side of things.
“He was a standout in terms of getting a lot of juniors to play the game and is a good bloke, so has a nice rapport with the players.”
The success speaks volumes of the healthy position the league finds itself in despite the current challenging period of speculation brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mitchell said it has been a huge team effort to put the competition in the position it finds itself today.
“Although Naomi and I received the awards, many others have contributed along the way and there is a strong team in our board,” he said.
“Bob Jones from Hatherleigh, Dennis Muhovics and Trevor Ling from Robe form a group with excellent skills, while the Junior Executive is just as important.
“The important thing is having a two-way line of communication with clubs, so we can provide support which is working pretty well.”
