We hear the term Community Football Club used a lot these days to try and attract new members.
Mt Gravatt Hawks FC is one of those clubs, but to the Hawks, it’s not just a tagline or a marketing angle, it’s part of the Club’s ethos and philosophy.
The Club has been providing support to its local community for many years and believes that to be a Community Club is about giving to the community and being an active part of the community. The club over the years has supported a number of community groups and to this day continues to support many groups.
Mt Gravatt Hawks FC currently has made its facilities available to the AAMA (Australian Academy of Martial Arts) who needed to be relocated more than 4 years ago. They also support many of the schools in the area by providing their fields free of charge to Mt Gravatt District Sport (primary school football) as well as providing facilities to Mansfield State High School who use Dittmer Park as their home ground for competitions such as the Bill Turner Cup. Dittmer Park is also used for Secondary School Trials (Metropolitan East) and has previously hosted secondary schools sports. Mt Gravatt Hawks continues to support schools and school sports in their community. The club also supports the Qld Deaf Futsal & Football.
Over the years they have also provided their facilities at Dittmer Park for the University Games and a number of other events run by community groups.
In a recent article about the history of Mt Gravatt Hawks FC there was even a mention that in 1967, the then Mt Gravatt Hawks Soccer assisted Clairvaux College with establishing the school's first teams, which goes to show that the Club's community minded philosophy goes back to its beginnings.
Hawks have also provided support to community groups such as Quick Response Carers (group providing care and support to disabled children), hosted Special School events and carnivals and undertaken a number of charity events. Hawks also provided facilities to Clairvaux Mackillop College for their RTC program.
The Hawks are currently working with and supporting the Pushing Barriers that provides support for refugees and Hawks has welcomed a number of their players into their programs and continues to offer financial assistance. Hawks also has an ongoing partnership with Griffith Uni Sport.
Life member and one of Mt Gravatt’s most respected past President’s, Vince Sciacca was asked about the club’s community philosophy. “In my time as President, I had a vision to make Mt Gravatt Hawks a more inclusive club that worked hand in hand with the community. To me the term Community Club isn’t a marketing cliché, because words are cheap, to me being a Community Club is about actions and what a club does to support its community. It's a case of more give than take.”
“As President, my aim was to give back to the community, to support the community. As a club we have been fortunate to be the recipient of several funding grants over the years and those grants have been used to improve the facilities. But my belief was that these facilities have been built with the assistance of the community through local and state grants and therefore the real owners of the facilities is the community. Our philosophy has always been that we are merely custodians for these facilities and therefore we should make these facilities available.”
“I had a vision that Dittmer Park would become the sporting hub for Mt Gravatt and when you drove into Dittmer Park they would a sign displaying the home of several community based organisations. Our doors were always open to any group that need access to our facilities, be it fields, canteen and kitchen or meetings and conference facilities.”
Mark Brittain the current President of Mt Gravatt Hawks FC added, “I’m proud of what Mt Gravatt Hawks has achieved over the years with its commitment to assisting the community and I can assure you that the current Management Committee will continue the Club’s longstanding support of the local community.”
“To borrow a phrase from my predecessor, Mt Gravatt Hawks FC is about putting the Community in Community Club” said Brittain.
Mt Gravatt Hawks works closely with its community and enjoys the valuable support of its government members and wants to acknowledge the support that it receives from Councillor for MacGregor, Stephen Huang; State Member for Mansfield, Corrine McMillan and Federal Member for Bonner, Ross Vasta.
Mt Gravatt Hawks FC facilities can be utilised by local community groups (subject to availability) on a short term basis for FREE for meetings, gatherings or events. To book our facilities, please email admin@mtgravatthawks.org