Thirroul JFC's long serving registrar Debbie Crawford was recognised for her contribution to the game with a Club Volunteer Award at last Saturday night's Football South Coast season launch.

Debbie has been a very active member of Thirroul JFC for over thirty years and is often the first person most of us have met when they join the club.

Up until only very recently, when she retired, she has been doing this while holding down a full time job. In the 1980’s when her sons started to play football Debbie took on the role of Canteen Coordinator.

In 1992 she became Club Registrar and continues to participate in that role to this day. Debbie has been the Club Registrar for Thirroul JFC for nearly a quarter of a century.

In that time the club has grown from approximately 180 junior players to around 650 players in 2016, participating in junior, men’s, women’s and amateur football.

Debbie has taken in her stride the added complications of multiple strands of football, plus the changes to the registration process in that time. It’s incredible to think how many registrations Deb has processed in that time.

For her long-time commitment and contribution, Debbie has been awarded life membership of the club.

She’s also been Ground official on Saturday mornings for many, many years and served on the Club’s Executive with distinction. She has also acted as District Delegate to junior’s and women’s when required.

Debbie Crawford is one of the “faces of football” in our club and community, a great ambassador for our sport and a very worthy recipient, who should be recognised for her profound contribution to our sport in the Illawarra.

She is probably responsible for encouraging a lot of us to become involved in our community. An amazing woman with a kind, warm heart. Congratulations Debbie on an award that is thoroughly deserved.