After a year out of the AFL Mount Isa competition the Lake Nash Young Guns are back but they have a problem to solve and are looking for the help of the public.
Lake Nash also known as Alpurrurulam is a remote community that lies on the NT side of the Queensland border.
Their AFL team the Young Guns has competed in the Mount Isa competition for many years travelling every Saturday during the season for their games.
In 2019 they had on-field issues that led to a one season ban from the competition but they are back and fighting in 2021.
The Young Guns have to travel 300km each way for every game in Mount Isa and the club says they are a team of young men that have grown up with a footy in their hand and have a passion for AFL like no other.
".Not only does this passionate team struggle with transport to and from games, but they struggle to have food to provide them with the energy they need to get them through a full game of footy," the club said.
"The team are lucky if they are able to hunt a kangaroo on the way into town as this will be their dinner Friday night before game day Saturday."
The team trains on a red dust oval in Alpurrurulam, mostly barefoot and shirtless but footy is a lifeline for this team and one that the whole community supports.
The team bus broke down many years ago so most weekends they use what ever cars are roadworthy to travel the 600km round trip, sometimes breaking down along the way.
But finding the fuel money which exceeds $300 weekly is something the team cannot afford and now they are seeking donations for a bus.
"The team's passion for footy keeps them fit, healthy and their mental health strong," the club said.
"The young men in this team train hard weekly and like to keep healthy and promote footy in the community as a way to help the younger generation to stay out of trouble as living remote there is not many positive activities for youth in this part of outback Australia to participate in."
- Access the GoFundMe page at: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-lake-nash-young-guns-get-a-team-bus