By his own tongue-in-cheek assessment, he started at the bottom and he’s still there. But along Ojai Maguire’s 10+ year journey as a volunteer for the Toowoomba MX Club, he’s worked every role there is; and put a lot of time and effort into maintaining and growing the reputation of the club and its famous location – Echo Valley.
What are the roles you’ve worked as a volunteer in Toowoomba? How did it begin for you with volunteering?
I’ve done it all to be fair. Like most volunteers I started with some maintenance around the grounds at working bees, but I went to a club meeting and they were delegating roles for the year and I somehow signed up for cleaning the toilets before club days… it’s a shitty job but someone has to do it right? Since those days, I was involved with track prep for around 10 years, vice president a couple of years and club president for a few years after that. I’ve also picked up my fair share of Divi 1’s out of the mud. I’ve stepped back a little, but I still help out at working bees and am currently on the team organising Mountain Man Motocross. Happy to report that I still clean toilets. Started at the bottom – still at the bottom!
Running Mountain Man must have been a proper handful over the years. What’s driven you to make this contribution to your community over time, and what do you enjoy about it the most?
Bringing it back in 2015 for the 40th anniversary was very cool. We did it as a collective of clubs including TMCC and QVMX which was pretty special. Clubs need to work together and support each other if we want this sport to build.
I grew up in Yowah, which is a small opal mining town and there was always a small town mentality I guess. Everyone had a role, the same people who were in the rural fire brigade were also the people running the community BBQs or involved with the flying doctor service. I think that rubbed off a bit, surely.
The volunteering days I’ve enjoyed the most have been when you’re out at the track getting shit done with your friends, having some laughs between jobs and knowing you get to rip laps the next day.
What unusual or unique challenges does your club face in Toowoomba that people might not know about?
Track prep is definitely challenging; the hills are steep and the clay is hard to work, but watering the track is very expensive as our only water access is via town supply. At 9 litres a second and running for upwards of 20 hours when conditions are dry and hot in summer, it’s a cost a lot of other clubs don’t have.
Are there any particular strengths or quirks you notice in your fellow club members or the riders from your area?
We all have one leg shorter to walk across the hills.