Annual General Meeting 2006
The 2006 season has been a great success whether it be the Sunday supporters nights, the social functions, the games on Sunday, Presentation day/night, it has been an absolute pleasure to be given the opportunity to lead this great club of ours and to try and make everyone’s journey a memorable one.
Our club provides an opportunity for all children to participate and develop skills in a team environment. To this, we had 502 players represent 23 teams. 4 tacker’s teams and 19 teams representing Under 10 – Under 17. As the success of our club is the 502 players that represented us, after all, it is all about the children, I congratulate them all on their season and look forward to seeing them back in 2007. I thank all the players, parents and families for the contribution made in season 2006.
10 teams made finals with 6 teams playing in a grand final. The end of that day saw Premierships to the Colts 2, 13 Gold and 12 Gold and the biggest attendance ever in our history at Whatmough Park clubrooms that night with over 500 adults and children celebrating the 2006 season.
19 players were invited to the League presentation night with 10 boys finishing 1st, 2nd or 3rd. Congratulations to Rick Mullins, Zack Riddle and Tom Snell for finishing 1st in their respective divisions.
Tom Snell was also awarded with the Northern Knights “Rookie Of The Year” for the Northern Region, an award well deserved, well-done Tom.
10 players reached the milestone of 150 games, well done to Mitchell Buckley, Andrew Sturgess, Patrick Veszpremi, Jarrod Benson, Joel Benson, Nathan Cattenazzi, Lucas Missailidis, Matthew Spagnolo, Matthew Veszpremi and Jonathan Kadamani.
With several of our boys at the Northern Knights, congratulations goes to Steven Kelly for making the Victorian Metro Under 16 squad, congratulations also to Matthew Kreuzer and Patrick Veszpremi for making the Victorian Metro Under 18 squad. Matthew Kreuzer for being selected in the TAC Cup Team of the Year and Patrick Veszpremi for receiving an AIS scholarship, well done boys.
To the boys in Colts 1 that leave us this year. I have seen most of you develop from shy 7 & 8 year olds to fine young men, I on behalf of the club wish you all the best in the paths you choose in the future.
Our major functions this year were the Trivia Night that saw 220 people attend, and our fantastic Dinner Dance that saw 330 members and guests enjoy our biggest dinner dance yet. Both nights were a huge success and we thank Stephen Driscoll for all his hard work in ensuring we had a great time.
Our 2006 Life Members were announced at the dinner dance, congratulations to Stephen and Angela Driscoll, Jan & Joe Nanni as we welcome them as the newest Life Members of our club.
About Life Membership, a special night was held at the club for present and past life members, where each life member was presented with a special medallion, a big thanks to Rodney Johnston for organising such a wonderful night.
The Sponsors / Sportsman night this year was sensational; our guest speakers were magnificent and entertained the sponsors and members on the night. A job well done by Chris Freeman and Andrew Smith.
I also thank Old Paradians Football Club for the support throughout this year with making Naughtin Oval and Garvey Oval available for our teams.
I personally thank all the members of my Executive Committee for all their support and unquestionable dedication to tasks at hand, if not for them, we would not have experienced such a wonderful year.
Vice President – Andrew Smith
Andrew’s role varied week to week but mostly supported all other committee executives. A great support to the entire club and myself and I thank him for helping me think through some issues we had throughout the year.
Secretary – Tom Chapman
As our club becomes bigger and more sophisticated the amount of information becomes greater. I thank Tom for always being on top of the information and ensuring that all the parties at the club were informed about important issues as well as adding a calming influence to most issues discussed by our executive.
Treasurer – Guy Iacona.
In professional circles, this is the man we headhunted to take on this important role. Guy came into this position early March and his hard work has given us a clearer picture on the finances of the club. I thank Guy for his input and I look forward to more next year.
Football Director – Paul Millett
Arguably, the toughest position on the executive, and I must say what a great job Paul has done with this area. Together with 4 assistant football managers, Paul has taken the position to a level not seen before. The processes he has put in place ensure we get the right people coaching our children. Paul leaves our committee this year as work commitments prevent him from doing his real job, that as Football Director. Well done.
League Delegate – Patrick Redmond
Patrick is well respected at league level and well known to most in the YJFL. I thank Patrick for keeping us all informed with the issues raised by the league. Patrick was a volunteer at this years Commonwealth Games, a job he enjoyed immensely and a job well done, but what else could we expect.
Registrar – Jan Nanni
This is the fourth year Jan has done this role and a busy role it is. There is not a week go by that a coach or parent need to find out how many games a players has played, or a committee person needing to know if a player was registered. Jan leaves us this year; I would like to thank Jan for her commitment to this role as well as the Team Managers role in under 13’s, well done.
Sponsorship / Marketing – Chris Freeman
Well what can I say about Chris, he has a finger on every pulse going at the club. His work in sponsorship this year has been outstanding and we look forward to a bigger and better 2007. Well done.
Past President – Livio Basile.
What a great support Livio has been to me and the club as a whole, he is very passionate about our club and reminds us all of the way things should be done, Livio’s way, thanks Livio.
I would also like to thank the members of this great club for allowing me to represent you all as President of St. Mary’s G.J.F.C. In getting around to as many games as I could, I saw all children enjoying playing our great game for the biggest and best junior club in Australia, something we are all proud to be associated with.
Lastly I thank my wife Cathy, yes I remember her name, Ashleigh & Nathan for all their support this year.
Phillip Cattenazzi
President
“GO BURRAS”
