All you need to know about Big Freeze Geelong

Some of Geelong’s finest will be plunging into icy water for a good cause. The Big Freeze Geelong returns this year in a new location and promises to be bigger than ever.

Where is it taking place?

Newtown & Chilwell Football Netball Club will be holding the 5^th Big Freeze Geelong at Elderslie Recreation Reserve on behalf of FightMND, with slide to begin at 1pm.

This weekend’s exciting matchup between Newtown & Chilwell and South Barwon serves as the backdrop for this inspiring event.

What is it for?

Motor Neurone Disease (MND) is a group of diseases that affect the Motor Neurons in your body. These Motor Neurons carry messages from the brain to the muscles via the spinal cord. Those who suffer from MND see their nerves become damaged and start to die. This causes the individuals’ muscles to weaken and waste away. MND affects everything from walking, talking, swallowing through to breathing. Currently there is no cure for the disease and the average life expectancy following diagnosis is 2-3 years.

Founded by the late Neale Daniher AO, FightMND has raised over $115 million in funds for MND research in their quest to find a cure for the disease commonly referred to as “the beast”.

This funding goes towards cutting-edge research to find a cure for MND and vital initiatives that can make the lives of those living with MND easier.

When is it happening?

The sliders will be going down starting from 1pm and finishing their icy plunges at 2pm. While the sliders make their way down into the ice, there will still be games of football and netball on.

Start times for games on the day are as follows:

Football

9:00am Under 18’s

11:00am Reserves

2:30pm Seniors (Live Stream on AFL Barwon TV & K rock App or krockfootball.live)

Netball

8:15am U13 Div 1 (court 1), U13 Div 2 (court 2)

9:10am 15U Div 1 (court 1), 15U Div 2 (court 2)

10:05am 17U Dive 1(court 1), D grade (court 2)

11:10am C grade (court 1), 19U (court 2)

12:15am B grade (court 1), 17U Div 2 (court 2)

1:15pm E grade (court 2)

1:45pm A grade (court 1) (Live Stream on AFL Barwon TV)

Who’s going down the slide?

Some big names going down the slide include:

• AFL Barwon CEO Kate Patterson
• Geelong AFL star/Newtown alumni Tanner Bruhn
• Newtown native/Geelong AFL premiership player David Wojcinkski
• 3-time AFL premiership winner/media personality Cam Mooney
• Essendon legend Terry Daniher
• Olympian Mia Gross
• Barrabool Hills ward Councillor Ron Nelson
• City of Greater Geelong CEO Ali Wastie
• South Barwon Netball stalwart/Life member Caitlin Hoiles
• K Rock Football commentator Matt Dowling
• Newtown & Chilwell Football Netball Club President Aaron Keating
• Local Police Sergeant Mat Horan
• Local legend/volunteer James Elford
• Head of engagements & strategic projects at Leisure Networks Roxy Bennett

AFL Barwon’s very own CEO Kate Patterson will be heading down the slide to play her part in contributing to find a cure for MND. For Kate, after seeing her friend ride his bike from Melbourne to the WA town of Bunbury 10 years ago to raise awareness and funds for MND research in honour of his father, it made the decision to go down the slide an easy one.

How can you help fight the beast?

You can help the FightMND organisation on their quest to find a cure for MND by donating through the links below:

https://support.fightmind.org.au/fundraisers/bigfreezegeelong52026

https://support.fightmnd.org.au/fundraisers/katepatterson/diy-big-freeze