With the ever increasing popularity of campdrafting as a sport, the Inverell & District Campdraft Club Inc. was recently formed after a meeting which attracted about 40 interested people.

At this meeting it was decided to formalise the group and form a Club which is affiliated with the Australian Campdraft Association.

Geoff Beard was elected president, John Hitchcock, Philip Frame and Peel Gainey vice presidents, Claudette Neville was elected secretary and Jane Pfingst Treasurer.

Publicity officers are Philip Frame and Ron Berkley.

Patron is Betty Burrow and cattle/cartage delegates are Rob Cavanagh and Rob Neville.

The aims of the club are to encourage and assist new people into the sport of campdrafting as well as further the knowledge of existing campdrafters.

It is hoped that in the future the club will host some outside instructors to assist members to improve and fine tune their drafting skills.

The club is open to riders of all ages who need to be members of the ACA, in addition to the small Club membership fee. Any one interested can contact any of the above office bearers.

To date, the Club has held two training days, which were well supported with about 20 riders attending each day, a good number, considering it is common for riders to ease off during the winter months.

The major event to be conducted by the Club will be the Jane McGrath Foundation Charity Campdraft which will be held September 25 to 27 at Inverell Showground.

Betty Burrow and family have already come on board as major sponsors for the draft, sponsoring the Phil Burrow Memorial Open Campdraft.

The Inverell district is in for a feast of campdrafting during the spring months with drafts being held at Delungra, North Star and the Inverell Show Society draft in October.

Planning is already underway for the Jane McGrath Charity campdraft and it is hoped to have a high profile identity present at the draft in September and the new committee is looking forward to the support of local business and the local community.

All money raised from the event will be donated to the McGrath Foundation, which is responsible for providing specialist breast cancer nurses to regional areas.

© 2009 Inverell Times

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