It’s Ipswich Little Athletics competition night and Josh Roney is here early setting up equipment. His wife, Cheryl Roney, is in the canteen chopping up an enormous bag of onions. The kids stop in with a look of surprise when they see the rainbow-coloured mohawk wig Cheryl’s sporting for Crazy Hair Night.
It’s a familiar scene in sporting clubs around Australia. Kids are getting active, learning more about their potential in a sporting arena, making friends and having a go. Parents are marking out javelin throws, making sure the races go smoothly, and cheering on their kids. The local sporting club is a much cherished, and important, hub in any community and run entirely by volunteers.
Josh and Cheryl Roney once lived a very different life—they are both Royal Australian Navy veterans. They are just two of thousands of Australian military veterans finding a new sense of purpose and camaraderie post-service in sporting clubs as players, volunteers and officials.
Their experience reflects what researchers at Gallipoli Medical Research already know—that veterans have much to offer, and gain, from getting involved with their local sports clubs.
“Serving in the Australian Defence Force makes you proud to represent your community and instils that community focus,” Josh said.
“I’m not one to sit and be a spectator. I’d rather get involved and help out,” he said.
Gallipoli Medical Research CEO Miriam Kent said GMR’s pioneering research has shown, time and time again, that many veterans suffer a loss of identity and social disconnection after leaving Defence.
“Our Research Engagement and Development Manager Dr Miranda Van Hooff completed a study for Invictus Australia that shows being involved in sports helps veterans with their health and wellbeing, and supports development of identity and purpose, as well as improving social support and connection,” Miriam said.
Josh said the transition to civilian life was not always easy.
“I appreciate my time spent in the military and it taught me a lot of life lessons. I appreciate the identity it created for me and the skills that it taught me,” Josh said.
“I did struggle a bit with identity after leaving the Navy. I’m a sailor. What now?” he said.
Cheryl, who was medically discharged from the Navy, found not just a loss of connection and identity, but also a new life spent trying to navigate around her physical injuries.
Now moving with the aid of a walker and told she will be in a wheelchair in the next few years, Cheryl has focused her efforts on championing the multi-class group at Ipswich Little Athletics, coaching and mentoring kids with disabilities.
“After losing my identity as a sailor and struggling to get up in the mornings, I found a new purpose coaching kids with disabilities because if they can do it, so can I,” Cheryl said.
Little Athletics Queensland (LAQ) CEO Chris Davis said the organisation is so much stronger for its incredible army of volunteers, including its veterans.
“It’s great to have veterans involved in volunteering. They obviously build phenomenal skills through their time in the ADF, and then they’re able to come back into the community to continue their service beyond the military,” Chris said.
Stepping in to manage Ipswich Little Athletics, the largest club in Queensland, Josh and Cheryl are a great example of how sport can honour, support and uplift Australian military veterans.
For the Roneys, though, it’s simpler than that.
It’s about helping the next generation find confidence at the starting line.
It’s about funnelling their skills and experience into a different type of community service.
It’s about finding a supportive community that understands there’s still some things to deal with from their old life.
They may have left the Navy, but they haven’t stopped serving.