Dear Members,
As we move closer to finals, wins & losses start to seem more important and occasionally emotions can spill over. I cannot emphasise enough the importance of St Marys reputation in what is a very competitive football market and remind all coaches, players & parents that you are the protectors of this reputation. We pride ourselves of giving our best on the field, and celebrate our successes, but most importantly we pride ourselves on being respectful to the opposition, the umpires and to the game and will continue to try and be leaders in the promotion of playing junior sport in the correct spirit.
Whilst the vast majority of our members behave in the correct manner and are fantastic ambassadors for our club, I do need to remind everybody that:
· Those who have on field volunteer roles such as water carrier, runner, trainer, goal and boundary umpire are there to do perform their designated role only. There are NO circumstances that would warrant you engaging negatively with opposition players, opposition officials or the umpires.
· The umpires are human and make mistakes just like our players do. We are not at AFL games and umpiring decisions should not be vocally questioned by the coaching staff or parents.
· If you feel the opposition officials, players or supporters are acting inappropriately, there is a procedure that allows your team manager to bring it to the umpires attention at the breaks, or to the attention of the ground manager. This can be the only response , our members attempting to take the matter into their own hands by retaliating will only reflect badly on your team and our club
· Swearing and abusive language will not be tolerated at junior sport – ever.
· If you see a St Marys member who is out of line, I encourage you to call them out on it. A collective zero tolerance approach will enhance the enjoyment of all, protect the reputation of our club, and most importantly act as the perfect example for our kids.
With all that off my chest, I apologise for no newsletter last week due to some technical difficulties, but what a day it was last Sunday week with torrential rain and arctic conditions. I had the pleasure of watching both of the Colts Heritage games with a number of past members & life members and they all commented that it was the worst conditions they had ever seen at Whatmough Park. A special mention to our runners, boundary umpires, trainers and water carriers who definitely went well above the call of duty that day. The Colts mums certainly had the best of the conditions as they enjoyed a special afternoon tea upstairs to celebrate the colts heritage round. A big thank you to Andrea Shea, Pauline Snell, Deb Blakey & Sinead Hamilton who organised and catered the event – a great time was had by all.
JACKETS, JACKETS, JACKETS !! – good things come to those who wait, and I am excited to announce that our new design St Marys Jackets have arrived and are now available for sale. The jackets are strictly limited, so get in quick as there is no guarantee there will be any left by the start of next season. Jackets are $60 for kids sizes or $70 for adult sizes, a limited range will be available from the canteen on Sunday or the full range upstairs on Sunday night.
DINNER DANCE / GALA BALL : is on 7th August at Emerald Receptions in Thomastown. I have had some feedback asking if this is just a colts event, whilst we acknowledge our top age colts and youth girls on the night, the gala ball is definitely a celebration for the whole club and all members are very welcome. If you hadn’t been before, make this your year and join us for the best night in the St Marys calendar. Your team managers will be actively finalising the bookings this weekend with all bookings so please see them if you have not done so already. Any questions..feel free to give me a call on 0413 266 484.
MAJOR RAFFLE: our major raffle is on again with the fantastic prizes of : 1st prize: your choice of a voucher to any store to the value of $3000, 2nd prize – any voucher to the value of $1500, 3rd prize $450 voucher. Thats right, you can spend the prize anywhere you like – a holiday, new TV, computer, bike, a years worth of McDonalds – the choice is completely yours. Tickets are only $2 and each child will be given a book of 10 by their team manager. All funds raised go directly into our football department – to purchase items such as footys, coaching equipment and jumpers and helps keep our registration fees low. We would appreciate if each family does their best to sell at least one book. The raffle will be drawn at our final round celebration on August 7th.
TACKERS / COLTS TRAINING: this Friday sees a fantastic initiative from our Colts boys who will be attending Tackers Training to help out as a way of giving back to our club. A big thank you to all of the Colts involved, I am sure our Tackers boys & girls will get a real thrill out of having the big boys teaching them a few tricks.
YJFL COLTS TEAM OF THE YEAR. Congratulations to Luke Awad for being selected in the league’s Colts Team of the Year. This year as well as the honour of being named Luke will play with the team against a representative side from Southern Metro JFL at Bulleen park on Sunday 6th September. Good luck and well done Luke.
This Sunday Night is focused on our Under 12 & Under 13 Boys Age Groups:
Speeches 6:00 PM – our 12’s & 13’s coaches will give an update on their season so far
Kids Food – Pizza’s for all players and siblings at 6:30 PM
Adult Meals – we will be firing up the Gioffre Deep Fryer and serving plates of wedges & dim sims & potato cakes for $5
Raffles – Drawn 7 PM: a magnificent seafood platter donated by Fishi Business at Greensborough Plaza and the opportunity to win $300 cash in our joker jackpot.
Lucky balls – a number will be drawn out of the box and one player in attendance who wears that guernsey number this year will walk away with a $25 Rebel Sport voucher.
Next Sunday Night 2nd August will focus on the Under 14 & Under 15 age groups.
Team Sponsors of the week:
Clean City Services (12 Gold)– a big thankyou to the team at Clean City Services who are at the forefront in providing specialised cleaning services to the private, commercial, industrial and retail sectors. For all of your commercial, industrial & domestic cleaning needs check them out at http://www.cleancityservices.com.
Tata Motors (13 Brown) – if you are looking for a commercial vehicle go to the experts at Tata Motors. They have the Tata Xenon, 4×2 Single Cab Chassis on sale now from $19,990. Have a look athttp://www.tatamotors.com.au for the full range and contact details. Thanks for your support.
Rutledge AV (Youth Girls) – is Australia’s largest Audio Visual Systems & Equipment Communications provider, the leader in emerging technology for world class audio visual . Check out their website for the full range of products & services: http://www.rutledge.com.au/. Thanks also for your support.
Best of luck this weekend,
Thanks,
Evan Butterworth
President
0413 266 484
butterworthbookkeeping@tpg.com.au
