Sport
16 January, 2026
SUMMER READING Country clubs are a great community
Laura Naughton is highly regarded as the doyen of Loddon sports administrators. The Loddon Herald’s GARY WALSH discovers her drive for sport and volunteers
AT THE age of 18, Laura Naughton’s first taste of sporting administration came with the hum of a fax machine and the visit of the postie.
In the mid-1990s the Loddon Valley Netball Association had a rotation system under which clubs took turns to produce a president and an “official recorder” for two-year spells.
Young Laura – ready to volunteer even then – was nominated by Bridgewater as the recorder, essentially the collector and collator of scores from the weekend matches.
On Sunday afternoon, not Saturday night – “because I was a young pup, I had an active social life” – she would sit at the kitchen table at home surrounded by giant sheets of paper.
In those low-tech days, the sheets carried results, ladders and all the information about the competition across all grades.
“I had to be ready for the results to be faxed in, first thing Monday morning,” Naughton said.
“And then the score sheets would arrive in the mail, and I’d work on it on Wednesday and Friday nights – Thursday night was netball training.”
She did this for two years, but somehow it didn’t put her off volunteering, which has been a constant throughout her life.
Inspiration came from her parents.
Her father Rob was secretary of the Marong and District Tennis Association for 20 years, a volunteer with local Landcare groups, and president, secretary and treasurer of the Bridgewater Golf Club – at 79 he is still volunteering.
Naughton’s mother Robyn was secretary of the ladies’ auxiliary at the football/netball club, looked after the canteen and for a time was netball club secretary.
“It’s just a community coming together,” she said of country football and netball clubs.
“You have a welcoming environment, but it’s also that social connectiveness.
“When you’re living in the country you can be isolated, especially on the farms.
“The only time that the farmers back then, before social media, had any connection to other people was through sport.
“It’s so good for your mental health and wellbeing.
“You have a club that is a community – you can have your eight-year-old daughter playing Minis while your husband’s playing football, your sons are playing football, you’re playing netball.”
Sport first entered Naughton’s life at primary school, with athletics and the long-forgotten pursuit of marching.
Games at Leichardt primary were mostly played on the gravel road outside the school, which was certainly a resilience builder.
She proudly held the under-6 record for the 60m sprint for several years.
Netball also came early, and because she was tall for her age, Naughton was stationed as goal shooter.
“Then, at senior years, because I was quite vocal, the coach said let’s have a crack at centre.”
After two seasons with Golden Square, she returned to Bridgey, where she ended up playing more than 500 games.
Along the way came a league best-and-fairest in 2008, and a best-on-court award in Bridgewater’s netball premiership in 2011, as well as club B&Fs.
At tennis, too, Naughton excelled for Derby in the Marong competition, where she still plays and is on the association executive.
But it’s off field where she has really made her mark.
Naughton was on the LVFNL board of management after the football and netball leagues merged, first as treasurer and then in a full-time role as executive officer, managing the league’s operations.
“All the skill sets aligned when the job came up,” she said.
“I knew the netball side back to front, and I’d also dabbled in the football side as a team manager for the boys through their junior years.”
Naughton loved her time with the central body, although it meant she had to keep a lid on it during part of the Mean Machine’s dynasty of seven football flags in succession from 2010.
Her husband Wayne was on the Bridgewater committee, but she had to remain at arm’s length because of her “neutral” position.
“While Bridgewater was my home club, I just gave them congratulations, like I would for any other club.”
While Naughton loved her work at head office, she decided in mid-2024 that it was time for a breath of fresh air, so she became recreation officer for Loddon Shire.
So, she now has that full-time job, along with widespread volunteer work in the sporting and non-sporting fields, including mentoring and training young netball umpires.
Husband Wayne – “Naughts” – has long been a volunteer as well – he’s on the LVFNL executive – and the couple have passed down the family ethic to their three sons, James, Nic and Toby.
“People ask me when my down time is, and my time’s between 5.30 and 6.30 in the morning, when I do my fitness.
“That’s just for me, and it helps me gain focus for the day and the week ahead.”
And then there’s Thursday nights, when she runs a casual program for local mums walking laps of Bridgey oval.
“There’s people join in and walk one or two laps and then jump out again.”
A life member of both the LVFNL and Bridgewater, Naughton said, “I only turned 50 this year, and to have two prestigious awards makes me speechless, which is a mean feat.
“I don’t undertake roles for recognition – I do it because I enjoy being involved.”
Naughton is at pains to stress how important husband Wayne has been in her sporting life.
“I have been lucky enough to have undertaken a lot of my roles with Naughts by my side.
“He too volunteers a lot of his time at clubland, whether it be footy, bowls and previously tennis.
“I think both Naughts and I have set great examples for our boys. All three roll up their sleeves, take on roles and help out – seeing that in them is a reward all of its own,” Laura said.