After a 20-year hiatus Cohuna Fire Brigade made their grand return to State Championships in 2021, and are coming back in 2022 hoping to create a winning streak.
The brigade has a long history of competing in Championship competitions, but a lack of participants in the local area meant the event took a backseat for two decades.
Returning to last year’s event, Captain Mathew Trigg said they were surprised with their success.
“Cohuna has a huge background in running and competing in Champs, and after a 20-year break for the brigade, we only came back to the track last year,” he said. “We entered the B-class section, and actually managed to take out B-class aggregate at the 2021 event.”
Mathew said because of the brigade’s history it was important for them to get the team back competing, but he said that being back on the track has had other benefits as well.
“Because there’s such great history with Cohuna competing in Championships, we wanted to get it back up and running again.”
“It’s really helped out our brigade members because it just increases camaraderie throughout the brigade. We all learn how to better work together and that carries out onto the fireground as well.”
The atmosphere and experience of the event was something they realised they’d been really missing, said Mathew.
“The whole event, the camaraderie and meeting other brigades, hearing all of their stories and learning more about the history of it all, it’s just an overall fantastic experience for our brigade.”
“We had no idea what to expect when we arrived last year, but we were actually disappointed that we hadn’t gotten involved earlier.”
Mathew said he would encourage all CFA brigades to get involved.
“It builds that community spirit within the brigade and I think that’s reflected in how you’re able to help your community as well. The competition itself is really fun, and the relationships you form are just fantastic. I’d definitely recommend anyone give it a go.”
The 2022 State Championships will be held in Mooroopna in March. The Urban Juniors event will take place on Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 March, while the Urban Senior, Rural Junior and Senior competitors will take to the field on Saturday 26 and Sunday 27 March.
Registrations for the 2022 event are open now. For more information, please click here.