The day the Tiger went pink
Curtin Uni Wesley’s Dean Diamond speaks to Chris Egan
Few community fundraising initiatives have had better success in the history of the Perth Football League then the Curtin Uni Wesley Pink Tiger Ladies Day.
From simple origins, as a way for the club to be able to further support The McGrath Foundation and Breast Cancer Research, the concept has grown to become one of the most influential social events not just for the Curtin Uni Wesley Football Club but for the entire the Perth Football League calendar.
Having started back in 2010, the Curtin Uni Wesley Football Club, through the Pink Tiger Ladies Day have run the event nine times having raised over $300,000 for The McGrath Foundation. While the Perth Football League achieves a significant milestone in 2021 with its 100th season, the Pink Tiger Ladies Day has their own significant milestone with its 10th occasion.
Embracing community spirit and engaging sponsors who are on a likeminded journey has been pivotal for the on and off field success of Curtin Uni Wesley. At the same time that the club has enjoyed great success off the field, the club has claimed two ‘B Grade’ premierships and an ‘A Grade’ premiership in the past decade.
One needs only look at the sponsor’s page of the Curtin Uni Wesley website to realise that this is a club that places importance on its sponsors and keeping a length and engaged sponsor list. With close to 50 listed sponsors the club continues to make strides as a financial powerhouse.
The added focus on sponsorship has meant those involved at the club whether in a playing or administrative capacity, like former player and current committee member, Dean Diamond have been keen to show their own corporate support.
“I’ve been a sponsor for close to ten years, so it’s been a long involvement,” Diamond said.
“The people at the club, there’s been a high level of passion for them for the club and so that involvement was something that I was keen to be involved with as well.”
The Pink Tigers Ladies Day has likewise been a success due to this sponsor support. Having had Price Waterhouse Cooper, QBE and Shakespeare Partners as naming partners during the past ten years, it has been another one of the reasons behind the success.
Like everything at a community club level, success does not come easily. While the simplest of ideas and the noblest of gestures will always be those that work the best in engaging the community, it still takes a group of people committed to a cause to translate effort to success.
Curtin Uni Wesley and the Pink Tigers Ladies Day is another example of this.
