Dr Veronica Moule (Ronnie), Castlemaine
I appreciate the letter written by Deborah Coulthard about the re-development of the Castlemaine Football Netball Clubrooms (Opinions, Mail, June 19, 2026).
I am also a mother of four sons, as a family we have been involved in the Castlemaine Football Netball Club for nearly 20 years, and previously the Wesley Hill and Newstead Football Clubs. Two of our sons currently play for Castlemaine Seniors. I’d like to re-iterate what Deborah wrote with such beauty and potency – the football club offers deep connection for the youth of Castlemaine and surrounds. Together they learn team work, about losing as well as winning, about appropriate expression of anger and aggression, about supporting your mates. They feel the support of all of the volunteers – parents, grandparents and friends who show up every week for training and matches.
The football is where generations of Castlemaine families come together to support our youth. I’ve watched the team and club stand together in extraordinary grief, and been deeply proud of boys and girls supporting each other with sensitivity and maturity.
There is a great frustration at the football club for the delay in re-development of the change rooms. The current rooms are not fit for purpose for either the boys or the girls, men’s or women’s teams. I’m sure the footy players would jump at the opportunity to plant 100 trees for every tree that is removed to aid the re-development of the clubrooms.