Behind the scenes of any amateur motocross club lies the dedication,
drive and determination of individuals, who are prepared to give up their spare
time almost each and every day of the week, in order to keep their club and motocross
alive at grass roots level.
At the heart of one such club is Julie Ann Hambridge, who along with her
husband Colin are part of the Coventry Junior Motocross Club (CJMX). I caught
up with Julie who is currently the Club Treasurer, (although she has many other
roles within the club) and she very kindly offered me some of her valuable time
in order to answer a few questions.
How long
have you been associated or involved with the club?
Myself and Colin have been involved with CJMX for the past 13 years through our son who joined as a 10 year old. We started off by transporting the lap van to and from race meetings, and I helped as lap scorer then assistant Treasurer and now full time Treasurer. We did attend race meetings and Presentation’s before that to support our nephew who raced with the Club.
What is your role within the club?
My official role is Club Treasurer but I also act as Competition Secretary, Membership Secretary, Lap scorer and I even help with track building when needed!
Is this a full or part-time job for
you?
To be honest, I spend at least an hour or so most days doing something, but this depends on the time of year obviously.
Julie then goes on to
give me an insight into what is involved with running a successful Motocross
Club.
Before a race
event, I order the WC’s, place the adverts, order and collect the trophies and
print off the paperwork. Then after the event the paperwork has to be
processed and sent to the Affiliation. The score sheets have to be
collated, with non-members taken out of the equation and then sent off to the 2
ladies that look after the scores for the end of year presentation.
For the presentation
itself, I order the annual awards, collect in the previous year’s awards and
send them off to be re-engraved. I also order flowers etc for helpers, assist
the lady that sells the tickets and converse with the Hotel to book an evening
for our annual awards ceremony.
Do you get a wage from the club?
No, it is purely voluntary. Club members vote each year at the AGM for the person they would like to have in a particular role. I am honoured to have been elected for the last 6 years.
What age group does your club accommodate
and how many members do you currently have?
We have children (Auto riders who must be aged 6) right through to Veteran adult riders and at the moment, we have 169 members.
We have children (Auto riders who must be aged 6) right through to Veteran adult riders and at the moment, we have 169 members.
Have there been any memorable moments
for you that you would like to share with us?
This is a hard one.
Our son unfortunately broke his back in a
number of places when he was 16 and spent a very long time on a spinal bed in
hospital before having rehabilitation and recovering from his injuries. But
despite my best efforts, he decided he wanted to race again when able to do so
– which he did, and he won his very
first race at a Stratford Night Meeting we held in really bad weather – that
for me was a very proud time.
Another
memorable moment was when myself and my husband Colin who is Chairman, were
very, very proud of our club who came 2nd in the 2012 Team Event
with 2 groups (Small Wheels and AMX) winning outright. It was a fantastic
achievement for a club as small as ours.
So there we
are folks!
My thanks and
admiration to the multi-talented Julie Ann Hambridge for giving me a fantastic
insight into how not just the Coventry Junior Motocross Club is run, but also
how probably many other clubs up and down the country are run and supported by
volunteers alike.
So next time
you’re ripping up the track at your local venue, spare a thought for the hard
working people like Julie and her husband, who behind the scenes make it
possible for you to enjoy what you like doing best. They are without doubt, The
Unsung Heroes of Motocross.
