Lennox Head local and our very own co-founder and Director of Barefruit Marketing - a full service marketing agency, located in Ballina, Evan Harding has been chosen out of 50,000 applicants to be a volunteer reporter for the Commonwealth Games being held April 4th – April 15th 2018 in the Gold Coast.
Evan Harding will work with 900 other volunteers as a member of the Games’ Press Operations team. This placement is well suited to the 40-year-old father who is also an avid athletics fan.
The official title of Evan’s role is ‘Flash Quote Reporter’ for the Netball competition; requiring him to interview the athletes courtside after the game. These quotes will be taken up by the world’s media during the coverage of the games.
“This is an absolute dream come true for me. I have been to the Sydney and Athens Olympics and the World Championship in London last year – I can’t wait to be a part of something just up the road from us”.
Originally from England, Evan has been following athletics his whole life and has also run two Marathons – London and Gold Coast. He’s thinking about registering for the Gold Coast Marathon this year in it’s 40th year – and his!
The application process for the games started over a year ago and the interview process took 6 months to get through a ‘shortlist’ of 25,000 people. 15,000 were selected for a 2-hour interview, and after a 3-month period Evan was informed, due to his experience, he had been selected for the Press Operations team.
Since then he has attended venue specific training, online training from home, familiarised himself with the rules of netball and been fitted for his uniform. After the Opening Ceremony dress rehearsal this weekend he will be relocating to the Gold Coast for the duration of the Games.
Evan is most excited to be a part of sporting history and contribute to the vibe. He will be close to the action and in the words of the training team ‘it will be one of the best 2 weeks of his life’.
Hi son, Cian (7) is excited to see dad on TV. Cian will also be travelling to the games with mum Claire to watch some of the events live.
Sport features prominently in Evan's life. He coaches his son's Lennox Head Football Team with training each week and games every weekend, thrashes it out at an F45 class every morning and is still an avid follower of his beloved Norwich City Football Club (the Canaries) in the English Championship League. He and wife Claire are also in training for a 5km run at the end of the Commonwealth Games for a bit of fun.
It is not the only volunteering role that Evan, Director of Barefruit Marketing in Ballina takes. Barefruit are a proud Corporate Sponsor of locally run charity Rafiki Mwema, with his wife and business partner Claire being on the board, assisting with marketing and fundraising.
With the Commonwealth Games kicking off next week, keep your eyes on the TV screens and the Barefruit Marketing blog for an update on Evan’s experience – www.barefruit.com.au