When it comes to special events, Launcestonians have a reputation for being hard to attract.
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Melburnians will turn up to the opening of a chip packet, but the story generally goes that Launceston residents aren’t always keen to venture out.
And if they do, they all turn up at the last minute and then complain about not being able to walk straight in because of the bottleneck caused by everyone arriving within the same five-minute period.
But this doesn’t seem to ring true for celebrity sport functions.
Throw together a few retired heroes and a few legs of lamb and they all come out of the woodworks.
Following in the wake of South Launceston Football Club’s grand final luncheon and Hadspen Cricket Club’s Champions of Sport, Evandale Football Club became the latest to embrace the phenomenon when it attracted several hundred to Prospect Vale on Friday.
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Speed skating gold medallist Steven Bradbury, Richmond premiership player Rex Hunt and Test bowler Jeff Thomson topped an impressive lineup of guest speakers – if the position of list manager at Evandale footy club was open before the event took place, it surely isn’t now.
But while on face value it might seem a coup that clubs are able to attract such big names to small-town events, the truth is that celebrity sport functions work so successfully because they’re win-win.
They give organisations like Evandale the chance to interact with locals who perhaps wouldn’t otherwise engage with the club.
And at a time where athletes are more aware than ever of life after sport, they give former sports stars a viable employment opportunity - and a potentially lucrative one at that.
In the case of the headliners who attended Friday’s luncheon, what could be more relaxing than being flown to Tasmania, eating a delicious lunch, telling a few stories from your career to a room full of fans before jetting back home with a fistful of fifties in your jacket pocket?
And that’s not even mentioning the chance to chat with some of the most delightful journalists in all the country.
It also gives sports stars the opportunity to tell their story in their own words.
Bradbury had the chance to speak in detail perhaps not often afforded in the 30-second TV package and to explain the 12 years of hard work that led to him becoming an “overnight success story”.
And to pursue his passion for comedy at the same time.
“I’ve spoken in many countries around the world and for me I kind of enjoy the bit of adrenalin I get in my guts on stage because I don’t get that at the Olympics any more,” Bradbury said on Friday.
“The bit of adrenalin I get (from speaking) on stage is in some ways my outlet and a way to earn a bit of a crust for me too.”
There’s also the chance to meet fans and to share years of experience with younger generations.
Hunt, a regular at such functions, used his time on stage to encourage the pursuit of dreams regardless of upbringing or education.
“I like the fact that I meet ordinary people who I would never ever get a chance to meet,” he said.
“What I love as a guest speaker is getting the attention of someone and if I can inspire one person to change their life… until you go to the Tobin Brothers undertakers, it’s not over.”