Juvenile delinquents and parasites.
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They’re the words Wodonga Heart president Bill Sinclair has used to describe the petty thefts and vandalism destroying his soccer club.
Yesterday for the second time in three nights their Willow Park canteen and storerooms were ransacked.
On Sunday between midnight and 3am the petty criminals jimmied open a new security door, threw food and dry goods onto the floor and then sprayed the lot with a fire extinguisher.
They then took off with slabs of Powerade and Coca Cola.
About $1800 worth of food was destroyed or stolen, revenue from the game day takings on the Sunday severely depleted.
Early Tuesday morning it was much of the same – merchandise and food stolen, about another $500 or $600 lost.
Mr Sinclair has lost all tolerance for the culprits.
“Where are their parents?,” he said.
“The handprint on the door was that of a 10 or 12-year-old, it’s the middle of the night – do their parents know they are out at this time, do they care?
“We had only just had the door and frame replaced from the last break-in and now they are talking about some sort of roller shutter for extra insurance.
“It’s soul destroying.
“We’re a struggling club that gets 11 home games each year and use what little profits we make from the canteen to put back into the development of the juniors.
“We struggle from year to year to have enough money to plan for the following season – we just can’t afford this to keep happening. ”
Mr Sinclair said it was not just his club who should be outraged by these crimes.
“If it’s not the canteen then it’s hoons on motor bikes ripping up the grounds,” he said.
“We can have young kids on the soccer pitches at training and they roar through here as if they own the place.
“The police seem to know who is responsible but need to catch them red-handed and then when they do they go to court and get a slap on the wrist.
“This is council property, council grounds – they belong to the ratepayers and each time something like this happens it is the council that has to foot the bill.
”It just has to stop but at the moment I don’t know how.”