Karratha Kats president Shane Harris snares top AFL volunteer award

For 35 years Shane Harris has been a stalwart at the Karratha Kats football club, and his decades of hard work have been recognised by being named the AFL’s Volunteer of the Year. The Toyota AFL National Volunteer Awards recognisevolunteers across Australia who have made contributions to community football, with the national community football volunteer of the year the top prize. Harris was announced as the recipient of the award last week. He has played a role in every aspect of the sporting club from junior coach, reserves coach and league coach to treasurer and vice-president. Harris has also been the president for 11 years, helping guide the club to three flags during his reign. Harris told the AFL his involvement with the Kats started from a young age and saw him work through different roles. “I get a lot of enjoyment out of young kids — and now young ladies — start off and work their way through. You grow with the juniors into seniors, and it’s rewarding to see them come through and get results. We’ve won a few flags and it’s rewarding to see,” he said. One of the challenges facing the club is the transient nature of Karratha. “It’s probably why I’ve stayed for so long, because it’s so transient, you need that stability at the top to keep things steady,” Harris said. Harris also supports other teams as the North Pilbara Football League vice-president. “We don’t have a competition if we don’t have clubs, so it’s in our vested interest to try and keep them up and running,” he said. “The girls have had two full seasons under their belt now. That’s coming along very well, it’s a five-team comp in this area. “With only eight home games a year, in order to maintain the football club, we needed to branch out and make it a sporting club. “We run 14 netball teams, men’s and women’s cricket, so ladies’ football was just a natural progression. We were keen to get on board and boost our membership and make the club more viable.”