Our junior coordinator who helped build the junior club we know today.
Eltham Rugby is sad to share the passing of Marion Steel.
When Marion’s sons Nick and Alex started playing, the family quickly became part of the club. Both boys went on to play for Eltham for many years, and Marion was soon involved herself. In her second year with the club she became joint junior coordinator with her husband, Alan, a role they shared for four years.
At the time, Eltham was mostly a seniors club with a couple of junior sides. Marion helped change that. In just two years our junior numbers grew from about 40 to 180.
She did it by bringing families in. Marion started and ran the junior committee meetings, so parents had a voice. She got the canteen up and running. She got parents out of their cars and into the clubhouse, because she knew that coaches, managers and supporters were the heart of a junior club. She set up our registration day with coaches and managers, and she insisted that every team had a qualified coach and a first aid person. Those standards are still part of how we look after our players today.
Away from the club, Marion was Dr Marion Steel: a senior lecturer and course coordinator in Business to Business Marketing at RMIT, and Director of the Bachelor of Commerce at Deakin University. As her career grew, her day-to-day role at Eltham eased, but she was always there when the club needed her.
A memorial service will be held at Le Pine, Eltham, at 1pm on Saturday 7 November, followed by a celebration of her life at Eltham Rugby Union Football Club, 58 Bridge Street. No flowers, please. Donations can be made using the forms provided.
Our thoughts are with Alan, Nick, Alex and all of Marion’s family and friends. Thank you, Marion. 🖤💛
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