'Mark's happy place': Sculley's legacy to live on forever at East Point

Ballarat-Redan President Paul Aikman said Sculley, who was a captain, assistant coach and coordinator at the club, was an "all-around good person".

"We're really going to miss him greatly," Aikman said.

"The finality of it has really hit home this week, we're all pretty shattered by it.

"He was a legend on the field in any sport he played in, but he was an even bigger legend off the field."

Sculley captained Ballarat-Redan 2^nd XI to a premiership in 2010-11, leaving his mark at the club.

"Everyone that knew him knows he always had a smile on his face," Aikman said.

"He was always a happy bloke to be around but always ready to have a joke and stir up other people in good nature.

"You can see from this week just how much he meant to a lot of people. He'd do anything for anyone."

Sculley, who also played football with Golden Point, followed in his father's footsteps after his playing days, becoming East Point trainer in 2003.

East Point President Garry Wilson said it has put a "shockwave" through the club.

"Mark's happy place was at the footy club," Wilson said.

"The whole family are a massive part of our club and really close with the playing group.

"He was a very popular guy around the club, he was always smiling and poking fun at people."

Sculley lost a two-year battle with cancer on Monday, but Wilson said despite his battles Sculley was always upbeat and positive around the group.

The Courier wrote about Sculley in 2019, highlighting the contribution of three generations' worth of Sculley family to East Point.

The smell of liniment is as synonymous with footy as a rolled ankle, and behind every loosened hamstring or taped up appendage is a trainer.

If you have been around East Point since the merger in 2001, or even Golden Point from 1974 onward, you would have been strapped by a Sculley.

"I've got life membership from East Point, Point and the league now," Ron Sculley, head trainer at East Point, said as he reminisced on his more than 50 years of service to the clubs.

The foundation of a football club rests on people like Ron Sculley. And when you get three-for-one, you can build a strong foundation.

Beginning its association with the Golden Point football club in the '70s, Sculley is now a grand old name at East Point represented by three generations.

Mark, Ron's son, was cut from the same cloth as his old man and has the same propensity to help out.

He was raised around Golden Point football club before pulling on the boots in 1988.

Once the boots wore out he swapped them for a white top marked "trainer" and has been in that role at East Point for the last 16 years.

"I've been doing this (training) since 2003. Dad came and said, 'I'm the only trainer', so I came down to give him a hand, and I haven't left," Mark said.

Mark needed a water runner one day and had to look no further than his daughter, Emily.

She took to the job with the same generosity as her Pa and Dad and had the best seat in the house for a big mark from East Point champion, Dan Jordan.

That was enough to convince her and, with more than ten years of service now, she has never looked back.

"Being involved is one of the highlights of the winter. Football is always there, you've always got something to do," Emily said.

She remembers kicking the footy on the oval with the boys when she was a kid.

The early introduction to football clearly had an impact with Emily playing in a premiership for women's side, East Point Dragons, earlier in the year.

The victory added a another wholesome chapter in the Sculley story with Mark and Ron acting as trainers for Emily's side.

East Point clearly runs in the family, and Ron, Mark and Emily have a hereditary passion for the red, white and blue.

"It's a pretty awesome effort to have Dad and one of my daughters here helping. It's great, I love it," Mark said.

Emily is keen to keep the Sculley lineage strong and can see herself being involved at the club for just as long as her Pa.

"They're all very welcoming and loving. Once you're there, once you're in the football club, you've got friends for life," Emily said.

But it is not just East Point that experiences the kindness of the Sculley fraternity.

They help out the Ballarat interleague teams and have even been known to assist the enemy.

In East Point's first final this year, the Sculley's threw their allegiances aside to help an injured Sebastopol player.

"That's what a football trainer is. No matter who you're playing against, if somebody goes down you all go out to help," Ron said.

With over 75 years of combined service to the club, Ron, Mark and Emily practice what they preach.

East Point is as much a mark of family for the Sculley's as a surname.

"East Point is a big part of my family," Mark said.

And now the Sculley name is an emblem of the team they love.

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