MEMBERS of the Mitchell Rangers soccer teams were at Lakeside Stadium in Albert Park on Saturday, participating in the Great MND Relay in honour of their former coach.
Raising money for people living with motor neurone disease (MND) and their families, seven of the Rangers’ senior women ran and walked laps of the track alongside more than 1000 others all for a good cause.
The team, affectionately known as ‘Kev’s Crumpets’, named themselves after their former coach Kevin Jones to commemorate the impact he had on the Rangers before he sadly passed away from MND in 2022.
‘Kev’ was an integral member of the Rangers not just for the women’s team. He coached and played for the senior men’s side too, but his influence on the girls is evident.
Louisa Jones told the Review that Kev was the first coach who got her to fall in love with soccer, while Charlette Edmonds talked about the way her former coach changed the culture.
“He was probably the first coach that I had that really advocated for women in sport,” Edmonds said.
“There was a point in time where we didn’t have a team, but we ended up coming back together and I feel like part of that was probably Kev.”
The team ran/walked a total of 423 laps across the five hour period, roughly equivalent to 170km and have raised $1588 and counting for the cause.
Captain of the Rangers Mikayla Gibbons said the team name ‘Kev’s Crumpets’ came from one of her former coach’s “silly training sessions”, something he was renowned for during his time as the women’s coach.
“Before Kev, we were just a team, but he actually made us a family,” she said.
Now in its fifth edition, the Great MND Relay is an annual event run by MND Victoria.
This year’s two-hour running challenge symbolised the fact that everyday, two Australians are diagnosed with MND.
