El Jefe's report

Welcome
 
Just over 12 months ago, in order to get my facts straight I looked into the history of our club. The founding meeting was held in April 2001 and they had approximately 57 players. The President of the club in that first year was Brian Downes, I had an opportunity earlier this year to talk to Brian about the formation of our club. Ironically he is now involved with the South Hobart Football Club which has just had its centenary year; whilst the club he helped start is now approaching its tenth year.
 
The youngest team Woodbridge fielded in that year was an Under 8 team, two brothers Bolan and Jed Peebles-Stringer played for that team, Bolan at the tender age of 6 and Jed 7. As most of you are probably aware both of these boys are still with the club today, they have both taken the pitch for the senior men this year with Bolan also playing for the Under 16 side.
 
The reason for this brief glance back in time was to assess the direction the club is headed, are we still holding true to the original objectives. The answer to this, I believe is yes; the original objective was ‘to make soccer accessible and affordable to children living in the Channel’. Are we doing this and are we in a position to continue doing this, I believe so.
 
This year we fielded 3 junior teams, 2 youth teams, a senior men’s and senior women’s; we have a total of 96 registered players. We have almost twice as many teams as last year and easily twice as many players.
 
What is vital to the continued growth of the club is our new, youngest members. This year we had a very strong turn out with our under 6 team. For most of the season we had 8 very keen and very exciting players showing up, full credit must go not only to the children themselves but to the parents supporting them and their coach John Gorrie. I have always looked forward to reading their match reports. Let us hope that in ten years time a club president is looking back to when some of these children started in 2010.
 
All of our teams were not only very competitive this year but also displayed a very high standard of sportsmanship. It is vital that we continue to teach, model and expect nothing but the best in sportsmanship as players, spectators and coaches, despite what our sporting heroes in the wider world may be displaying. This high standard of sportsmanship was upheld with our highly competitive, victorious under 16 team. They have rightly earned a great deal of respect amongst the wider soccer community in Hobart for the way they handled themselves on and off the pitch.
 
You could be mistaken in thinking that we have had an excellent year and that we can continue on, present some trophies, enjoy the rest of the day and go home patting ourselves on the back for yet again another wonderful season. Unfortunately this is not the case.
 
When I became Vice President in 2008 the club was obviously about to enter a time of change with respect to the committee members. In 2009, last year, with a skeleton crew on board we weathered the storms, literally. We had no active treasurer that year and with Jodee Hurst managing the canteen and coaching, no other major fundraising and nobody to seek sponsorship we made a loss of around $2 000. This was along with the purchase of around 20 training balls for our junior teams.
 
This year however, having doubled our numbers, we have more than doubled the volunteer workload. We started positively in November ‘09 with what looked like a strong and capable committee however due to family commitments and the constant demand of full time work we continued on with maybe 2 to 3 active members at the helm.
 
In addition, I will take this moment to mention the unceasing and unfaltering presence of Alio Stringer in the background, somewhere in the shadowy spaces between the pages of our website; the hard work of Audrey and Noeline in the canteen; and the continuing support of Jodee and Charlie every week. It’s not for the lack of effort on the part of people like this that we didn’t get what we needed this year. We needed consistent and regular fundraising, we needed someone actively seeking corporate sponsorship, and we needed consistent and accountable systems for managing and tracking our income and expenditure. Unfortunately, whilst this was all planned for, the implementation was neither consistent nor accountable.
 
As President of the committee during this period of poor-management I take some of the responsibility for the consequences, the full extent of which will shortly become apparent in the Treasurer’s report. On behalf of the committee, I would like to apologise for our individual and collective shortcomings. The endeavours were always well intentioned, however the execution of them was, in the end, far from acceptable. If ever there was a year that pointed up the need for a wider involvement and greater commitment from members, this has been it; and I would ask that you each do what you can to ensure the future viability of the club. This can be as a committee member, coach, team manager or a range of other roles that are necessary for a local sports club to function.
 
I would like to wish the incoming committee the best of luck for the coming year. While it is up to you as to whether i am re-elected to the committee in some role, I do wish to continue my involvement in whatever capacity necessary to enable the club to continue ‘to make soccer accessible and affordable to children of all ages living in the Channel’.

From the President 17 June 2010

Welcome back to all of our junior and youth players and families after a
couple of weeks of school holidays, it was a well earned rest for many of
our volunteers and players. I hope you are all enjoying the quality
football coming out of South Africa at the moment. As always in any
sporting event there will be surprises and upsets, heroes and villains, the
ultimate winner is this beautiful game that we are all part of.

Dalles Hayes.

‘Leave only footprints, take only memories’ Part II

From the President

In part I of this exciting topic we looked at the aspect of players leaving personal belongings and rubbish behind, now let’s take another quick peek from a club perspective.

On a Saturday or Sunday morning, if anyone is around early enough a figure can usually be seen carrying some or all of the following; a bag of jerseys, a bag of soccer balls, team sheets, ice packs, first aid kit, maybe even some personal belongings. They will then go on to be responsible for up to 15 players for the next hour or so. The real challenge will come when it is time to go, can they ‘leave only footprints’? From the club perspective, can they leave with all of the gear they brought in?

When we started this season Woodbridge SC had 19 size 5 training balls, these are used for the under 13’s and up. Over the course of this season we have lost at least 4 of these training balls at away games (seniors). When I took senior training on Tuesday we had only 6, this is a serious attrition rate and we are not even half way through the season. If anyone is butchering a pig could we have the bladder please because at this rate we’ll need it?

Is it because we live in a ‘throw away’ society or is it something more? Is it because children are given so much these days without really earning it? Or is it purely the coach or managers fault for not keeping track of the equipment?
Whatever the reason, the club (players, parents and coaches) needs to somehow change this attitude. Training balls are just one example; a new senior strip purchased in 2008 is another; we only have half of those shirts left.

The approach the current committee is taking is to provide quality equipment, quality coaching and working towards improving facilities so that members of Woodbridge SC can take pride in their club.

Players and spectators are converging on South Africa at the moment proudly representing their country, if we can instil a small portion of this pride in our club these problems will become a forgotten memory.

‘Aussie, Aussie, Aussie...’
Dalles Hayes.

From the President 20 May 2010

Our senior’s first game at Kettering is drawing closer, the last time I passed through Kettering I saw the cricket pitch had been covered. The next step will be marking out the ground and putting the goals in.


Take a look at the ground between the bottom goal and the clubhouse at Woodbridge Oval. The seniors have trained there in wet conditions for the last two weeks and it has taken a pounding. I believe we have made the right decision in moving our senior games to the Kettering Oval. If anyone is interested in voicing any thoughts on this feel to free to make use of any of our online forums.

Dalles

Wanted

WANTED – Match Day Officials

There is a major difference between our youth teams and our junior teams; the amount of paperwork involved with each game and the requirement to provide either a referee and/or a linesman. At the moment we have a severe shortage of people able and willing to run the line particularly for the under 13 games but also for the under 16’s and seniors.

It is very difficult to coach and manage the subs whilst running the line, children have missed out on game time because of this. Similarly there aren’t many confident enough to take the pitch with whistle in hand for youth and senior games. Football Federation Tasmania have offered to provide training for club officials, those that would like to help out either running a line or refereeing but need some training see Dalles about when you may be available for a training course.

WANTED – Match Reports

If you or your children are disappointed by the absence of a match report for their games why not put your hand up and contribute one, even if it is a once off effort. We are a community club that can only stand tall by the efforts of our members. Remember that some of our coaches wear many different hats, we may coach more than one team, we may have other responsibilities within the club, we may be at the club before and after everyone else has left and most importantly of all... we all have a family of our own. Your literary efforts will not be criticised but welcomed...’There are two mistakes one can make along the road to truth...not going all the way, and not starting’ Buddha.

WANTED – Rego Fees

Last of all, and please ignore this if it does not relate, we still need registration payments to come in. As of the 15th of May we still had over $7000 worth of fees still outstanding, this is causing considerable concern for those that are responsible for finances of the club. The last thing we want to do is to stop a child from playing but that is the position we are being put in. Remember payments can be made at the clubhouse on weekends at games (preferable) and after training (if necessary).

From the President 13 May 2010

Sometime Sunday evening, after another weekend of football I was reflecting upon the bush-walking maxim of ‘leave only footprints, take only memories’. Having played the ‘World Game’ now over a period of more than 30 years I am well aware that we do take only memories. There may be trophies and pennants and the like but you scratch the surface of any long term player and the memories will come flooding out.

However anyone that cleans up a football ground after a game would be well aware that there is a hell of lot more than just footprints left behind. This last week of football I have picked up 2 ½ pairs of football boots, more items of clothing than I can remember and the same again with drink bottles and assorted bits of rubbish. Unfortunately the senior players are as bad as the juniors; I am starting to have a pathological dislike for Powerade bottles as there is always at least one left after the senior men play. Congratulations must go to John Gorrie and the under 6 team as their ground has always been packed away and any rubbish cleared away so that the under 9’s can start their game on time....’and little children shall lead them all’(Isaiah 11:6).
Dalles Hayes.

From the President 6 May 2010

If last weekend was anything to go by the local residents of Woodbridge have an abundance of footballing styles served up in their very own village every weekend. No need to risk life and limb travelling to Africa, no need to risk severe financial hardship in signing up to the pay TV companies or fast speed internet. We had the highly competitive yet social rivalry with Cygnet Sea Dragons in the under 6’s, this rivalry is starting to take on the atmosphere and intensity of an English derby. We had the fast paced and high scoring games of the under 9’s, 11’s and 13’s. Last of all on the Saturday we were privileged to witness some high quality, fast paced football with the under 16’s which culminated in a nail biting finish, easily matching what will be served up in 35 days from the World Cup.

To finish off Woodbridge’s wonderful weekend of football at home we had the highly physical top of the ladder clash with the Div 4 men.

We only have the four home games this weekend, (u6, U9, U11 and U13) but as it is Mother’s Day on the Sunday it gives us just a little bit more time to get organised. Check out our Mother’s Day raffle in the canteen and on our website courtesy of our latest sponsors Grandvewe Cheeses. The raffle will be drawn at 3pm on Saturday, tickets $1.00 each, hurry, don't miss out :D

From the President

Having just watched the Spanish giant ‘Barcelona’ fail to break through the defence of ‘Inter Milan’ to the threatening sound of the howling Tasmanian winds, I take a moment to consider what the weather will add to the weekend of football before us. It will be interesting to see what state our home pitch will be in after 6 home games, especially after this rain.

Does someone want to write a club blog?

Some interesting info could be put here, and this can be linked (embedded into) to the club's new website (like so...)

Or maybe we could steal Dalles' Facebook musings?