By Alesha Capone
Werribee Football Club’s chief executive Mark Penaluna has been awarded a VFL life membership.
Penaluna received the honour during the VFL 2021 awards ceremony last week.
Since joining Werribee FC in September 2003, Penaluna has become the longest-serving chief executive of a VFL club.
Penaluna said his love of football began at a young age, with his childhood weekends devoted to playing and watching football.
His father Jim has been a volunteer and coach with the Port Colts Football Club for 60 years, and was named the club’s best and fairest player in 1958. Penaluna himself is also a life member of the Port Colts.
Penaluna said he found out he would receive the VFL life membership at a Werribee FC staff meeting, the day before this year’s AFL grand final.
The club’s employees invited Jim to make the announcement at the event, much to Penaluna’s surprise.
“Werribee very much reminds me of what Port Melbourne used to be, how the local football club is part of the centre and fabric of the community,” Penaluna said.
He said one of the things he was most passionate about at Werribee is the club’s environment of wellbeing and inclusiveness.
Under his leadership, Werribee became the first VFL club to employ a full-time community development officer.
Penaluna said that Werribee FC has worked alongside other local sports clubs, including the Werribee tennis and bowls clubs, to help the wider community for many years.
Earlier in his career, Penaluna was one of the driving forces behind the $11.75 million Avalon Airport Oval redevelopment.
During his tenure at Werribee, Penaluna said he has been proud to see a number of the club’s players drafted into the AFL.
“In the past 11 grand finals, Werribee has been associated with 10 in some way or form,” he said.
Recently, Penaluna played an instrumental role in securing $975,000 worth of government funding for VFL clubs, to help with the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
He said that Werribee FC “has taken a massive hit” during the pandemic.
“We lost in excess of $1 million last year,” he said.
Penaluna said he wanted to thank the club’s players, staff, volunteers, sponsors and members for their assistance during the pandemic.
“From a club point of view, I believe the way people have come together and supported each other, has been great,” he said.
Penaluna said that when times were tough, it showed the true determination and devotion of people involved in the club.
“Anyone can get a kick when you’re 20 goals up, you learn about people when you’re 10 goals down and there is 10 minutes left in the game, that’s when you see who will stand up,” he said.
Back in April, Werribee was able to play a VFL home game against Collingwood when COVID restrictions eased.
“At that game, all this effort the staff, volunteers and I went to last year made it all worthwhile,” Penaluna said.
He said that serving as chief executive at a football club was often a “balancing act of people, facilities and financial planning”, with many people keen to have a say on decisions made.
Penaluna said it was impossible for anyone to get 100 per cent of their decisions correct all the time, but that most people were “very accepting” once he explained how a decision was in the club’s best interests.
Penaluna, who was previously general manager of the Western Region Football League for eight years,
also thanked his family for understanding that his job required him to work long hours and not always be at home.
Werribee president Martin Carter said the Penaluna’s VFL life membership was well-deserved.
“Mark’s longevity in the VFL and at Werribee FC particularly for 18 years is testament to his character, loyalty persistence, respect, honesty and commitment to the cause,” he said.
“Mark is a hands-on administrator that has done everything from CEO down to umpire’s escort, there’s nothing he hasn’t done to make sure that Werribee FC was and is in a better place.
In other news, Werribee’s Matt Lobbe and Matt Hanson were last week recognised for outstanding seasons after being selected for the VFL Team of the Year.
