The Gold Coast SUNS will wear a commemorative Foundation Members guernsey featuring all 2010 five-year consecutive members’ names when they take on Port Adelaide on Saturday afternoon at Metricon Stadium.
The commemorative jumper, which displays 2,373 names, recognises the outstanding loyalty shown by members throughout the GC SUNS’ formative years.
A number of GC SUNS players, staff and board members feature on the honorary match-day jumper, including coaching advisor, Malcolm Blight, Chief Operating Officer, Andrew Travis, as well as foundation players Karmichael Hunt, Jack Hutchins, Brandon Matera, Trent McKenzie, Tom Nicholls, Luke Russell, Matt Shaw, Danny Stanley and David Swallow.
22-year-old McKenzie - whose name sits below the foundation members monogram - said it was great recognition for the players and members, alike .
“Wearing the guernsey this Saturday will not only acknowledge my football journey so far with the club, but also our many members who believed in setting up and supporting an AFL team on the Gold Coast,” McKenzie said.
Trent McKenzie points out his name on the Foundation Members Guernsey.
GC SUNS COO, Andrew Travis, said he believed celebrating five years of consecutive membership was a significant achievement for the club and its foundation members.
“Five consecutive years of membership with a club is a celebration in itself, but five years of membership with a club in its founding years is a fantastic achievement and a great show of support,” Travis said
“As we did last year, we as a club acknowledge these dedicated members’ loyalty with an exclusive guernsey, as well as various activities on the day of the game.”
As well as wearing the commemorative guernsey, foundation members have been invited to take part in a lap around Metricon Stadium prior to the game. Selected foundation members will form a guard of honour as the players run out, while two lucky members will fulfil the role of the team’s junior mascots.
The GC SUNS will also unveil a pictorial storyboard allowing 2009 & 2010 foundation members to reminisce on key moments in the year that they joined the club as members. The pictorial will be displayed in aisles 127-128 and will be updated with a new pictorial each year.
On a personal note for Travis, the recognition also signifies his family’s time on the Gold Coast, with the names of his wife and children also on the guernsey.
“When you pick up the jumper, what’s evident is that there are the names of so many families on the jumper,” he said. It signifies the strength of our support which often stretches through a family, and we hope in years to come that it becomes a family tradition to support the GC SUNS.”
