April Le Sueur didn’t just so much as win a national award as drive away in one.

When Brian Taylor rolled into Le Sueur’s second home, Rumbalara Football Netball Club, back in August, a crowd was already waiting for the unassuming and dedicated club servant.

Le Sueur, none the wiser, wondered why everyone looked suspiciously excited.

Moments later, the polarising AFL commentator handed her the keys to a brand-new Toyota Yaris and announced her as the national winner of the AFL Victoria Young Leader of the Year.

“I was really shocked,” she said with a laugh.

“I was like, ‘why are they all standing there?’ but when they announced it, obviously they were there to cheer me there and I was like ‘ah okay, everyone knew but me’.”

Winning a new set of wheels was only half of the experience.

On Friday, Le Sueur was invited to IKON Park to attend the AFL Victoria Community Football Awards and formally accept her accolade.

For someone who’s constantly wrapped up in the hustle and bustle of a sporting club, it was a rare chance for her to step back and take it all in.

“It was pretty cool; I hadn’t been to anything like that before, so it was good to see what types of awards they give out at the end of the year to all the volunteers in the area,” she said.

“Being able to have that title is pretty cool.

“I’m thankful for everyone who nominated me for it, and the AFL and Toyota for considering me. I’m pretty happy about it.”

Alongside Le Sueur, fellow Goulburn Valley locals didn’t go home empty-handed on the night.

Congupna Football Netball Club president Debbie McColl was bestowed the AFL Merit Award under the community banner, while Goulburn Valley Football Umpires Association’s Simon Walsh took home the AFL Victoria Umpiring Service Award.

It shows there’s no shortage of salt-of-the-earth volunteers in the wider Shepparton area.

And you only need to look at Le Sueur’s story to find a shining example.

Family — and football — have shaped her journey, as what started as a nine-year-old kicking around on the sidelines has evolved into leadership on and off the field.

Today, she wears many hats: board member, chair of the women’s football committee, and team manager for the senior women’s side.

“I’ve been a part of Rumba my whole life; as soon as I was born, I was getting dragged to games with my dad and mum because they used to play at Rumba,” she said.

“That drove me to playing there; as you do, you follow your parents where they come from. I’m also related to almost everyone at Rumba, so it’s all family out there.

“I started playing football when I was nine and then got into footy when I was 17 so that was pretty cool.”

Rumbalara, an Indigenous club rooted in culture, community, and connection, has long stood as a symbol of pride in Shepparton’s sporting landscape.

Le Sueur, née Atkinson, embodies that spirit as her pre-marital surname is a popular one at the Mercury Dve hub.

Which is what made it so hard to stay away when she once tried to fly the coop.

“I will admit I did try to go to a different club for a little bit one year, but I was like ‘nah I can’t do it’ so I went back to Rumba,” she said.

“It probably lasted like three months at this other club and then I came back.

“Family is out there, so I always keep going back to Rumba.”

In the Toyota Yaris — which she’s now “really enjoying” — Le Sueur has been cruising between commitments, a tangible reminder of where dedication can take you.

But she’s already looking further down the road.

“I always say that one day I might be the president,” she said with a grin.

“We’ll see how that goes in a couple of years.”

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Saturday, 23rd October 2027

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