Named as a Northern Inland Football (NIF) Volunteer of the Month, Alliston was humbled to hear of the nomination.

“We have a lot of other worthy recipients in the club that deserve recognition, I do a lot of the behind the scenes work so I’m not often the person out the front,” she said.

The local mother of three first volunteered with Inverell FC when her children started playing the sport, more than five year.

Her first gig was hopping on-field with the kids to coach and guide them through the game.

“I’m also a PE teacher so it comes naturally to do that.”

As her children became more involved in the club, so did Alliston and her husband Anthony, who is current president.

“You start wanting to pay back so I got into working out shirt audits, finding sponsorship for new shirts, promoting that community connection,” she said.

Alliston said volunteers were the backbone of sporting clubs and not-for-profits, and there were only gains when assisting something that promoted children’s health, fitness and enjoyment.

”We are trying to promote volunteering where and when people feel comfortable because we know there are times people can’t commit to certain times or jobs.

“We are a growing club, we’ve got over 400 registrations this year as well as starting a senior team so we will need more help,” she said.

Alliston reiterated the old saying ‘many hands make light work’ and said it was true, especially in a volunteering capacity.

The 2018 season kicks off the first Saturday after the school holidays and local juniors are very excited.

Inverell’s seniors have already hosted Glen Innes and are preparing to head over there on Saturday for a trial match as they work out teams before the season begins.