The Canowindra Pythons are getting ready to celebrate 50 years of the club this weekend with a big day of footy on Saturday, 12 July.
The day kicks off at 11am with a juniors game.
This will be followed by an old boys game between Canowindra Old Boys and Molong Old Boys teams as well as the women's match which will see Molong take on CSU Bathurst.
The Canowindra first grade squad will then take on Molong for the final match of the day, kicking off at 2pm with Canowindra wearing a long sleeved cotton jersey reminiscent of what Canowindra teams wore when the club was first formed.
Canowindra Pythons' Oliver Groves said it will be a big day of rugby for Canowindra and they would love to have everyone there, whether they played, supported the club or cheered on players.
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There will be a presentation by the field at 4pm.
Following the action on the field, there will be a celebration dinner at the Canowindra Services Club, though tickets have all sold out for the dinner.
"It’s a day for all of Canowindra to be a part of especially the current players, past players, supporters and volunteers," he said.
While tickets for the celebration dinner have sold out, with people coming from far and wide Groves encourages people to come down to support the club on the day at the field.
Along with a fun day of footy, the Club will be hosting a charity auction, where they will be auctioning off a signed Waratahs jersey as well as a tip to see the Wallabies play Argentina in September.
The organisations which will be supported by the charity auction will be the Emus Foundation and the Canowindra branch of the Country Education Foundation (CEF).
CEF works to support young school leavers to achieve their study and career aspirations.
The Emus Foundation provides support to injured players and rugby clubs in need across regional and rural areas of NSW.
The Canowindra Pythons have had a long history of rugby in the region, joining the South West Zone in 1976 as a Reserve Grade team.
The zone included Cowra, Boorowa, Young, Grenfell, Forbes, Parkes West Wyalong and Condoblin all with first and second grade teams. Harden joined in 1976 as a reserve grade with Canowindra.
In the early years, the financial foundation was built by dedicated members who contributed $100 each, ensuring the club had enough to cover jumpers, registrations and insurance.
The club’s distinct logo, created by Jill Nash clearly incorporates the Belubula River, which means winding snake and local farming produce with the club’s name “Pythons” chosen.
Over the years, the Pythons proved their competitive strength making numerous appearances in semi finals and grand finals, with the crowning achievement being a grand final victory over Forbes in 1980 under coach Ian Nash and winning the premiership in 1988, beating Grenfell in a tight game 13-3.
Across the 50 years Canowindra have had first grade and reserve grade teams depending on the number of players and at times a Golden Oldies team.
Under Michael Payten’s leadership the club successfully applied for a government grant in 1990 to build the clubhouse.
With the help of local builder Ray Clements and many Python players the clubhouse became a vital hub for the term and community. It was built onto the existing tennis club.
The Canowindra Pythons currently play in the Oilsplus North competition with their teams travelling from Canowindra as far as Trangie and Coolah and Coonabarabran.
