There's a chilly reception awaiting the losing team of this weekend's Sapphire Coast AFL clash between Narooma and Merimbula.
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However, it's all for a good cause.
On Saturday, July 30, the Narooma Lions and the Merimbula Diggers will face off for the Matt Ratcliffe and David Worden Memorial Shield as part of the SCAFL clubs' annual fundraiser to battle motor neurone disease (MND).
Former Narooma Lions player and committee member Matt Ratcliffe was diagnosed with MND in 2007 and passed away in 2015.
David Worden, father of Merimbula Diggers captain Daniel Worden, was heavily involved with the Diggers until he too succumbed to MND in 2017.
Mel Tiffen of Dalmeny, who founded the Footy 2 Fight MND fundraiser, lost her mother to MND. Since then she been raising awareness and money for the FightMND Foundation.
The Lions' and Diggers' Footy 2 Fight MND event was held in 2018 and 2019.
Monique Craig, a member of the event committee, said the fundraiser was disrupted by bushfires and COVID in 2020 and 2021 when local businesses were suffering.
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This year the committee hoped children will raise a substantial proportion of the funds.
Schools in Narooma, Tilba and Broulee are competing to raise the most money. The winning school can send its principal or deputy principal down the Ice Slide, which ends in a pool of icy water.
Far South Coast snowboard Olympian Valentino Guseli is among the celebrities who will join the Ice Slide.
Ms Craig said the Ice Slide was modelled on the AFL's Big Freeze.
Footie great Neale Daniher AO came up with the Big Freeze idea after he was diagnosed with MND in 2013.
The Melbourne Big Freeze fundraiser been running for eight years to support research and initiatives to find effective treatments for MND.
On Saturday, whichever seniors team loses the game at Bill Smyth Oval in Narooma must also take the slide down to the icy pool.
"Sometimes we get the crowd to nominate someone - a referee or a president of the local club - and we use that as a fundraiser to send them down the slide as well," Ms Craig said.
Gates open at 7.30am with the first of several junior matches getting underway at 8am.
The Narooma Lions B and the Eden Whalers will play at 1.30pm, followed by the Lions A and Merimbula Diggers at 3pm.
Ms Craig said they will be asking for a donation for MND on entry to Bill Smyth Oval on the day.
The committee will also raise money through a cocktail evening at Club Narooma in the Montague Room. There will be auctions, games, raffles and special guests. Tickets cost $30 and can be purchased from Club Narooma's reception.
Tickets can be purchased on the Facebook pages of Footy 2 Fight MND and the Narooma Lions.
