Dear Members,

 

This week the President’s & Football managers from each club were summoned to a meeting at the league headquarters to discuss the alarming increase in incidents of umpire abuse this year.  Sadly, our club is not without fault in this regard & I need to remind the very small minority of members that St Marys will continue to take a zero tolerance approach to umpire abuse.  The majority of YJFL umpires are teenage boys & girls just like our older players.  Like our players, they do some things very well and they will also make mistakes, but most importantly they are out on the field giving it a go.   As parents, I am sure we would not tolerate abuse of our kids when they make mistakes on the field, yet some adults continue to feel that umpires are fair game, this is not good enough and needs to stop.  Our committee, team managers & ground managers have been asked by the league to be extra vigilant in monitoring crowd behaviour, however it is important to remember that these officials also go to games to enjoy watching their kids play footy and it is incredibly unfair to expect them to act as crowd police.

 

With the negative out of the way, we move to the positives:

 

This weekend we celebrate Indigenous Round at St Marys as we acknowledge the traditional owners of the grounds on which we play, encourage the reconciliation process & promote cultural awareness & diversity through sport.  The highlights of the round include:

 

  • The flying of the Aboriginal Flag at Whatmough Park
  • Acknowledgement of Country to be read before all home games
  • The wearing of our special design (thanks again Taj Fazrekis) Indigenous socks by all of our Tackers on Tackers Day at Bulleen Park and by other players who were lucky enough to purchase. We were overwhelmed by the response and are happy and sad to say that we sold out last weekend, apologies to anyone who missed out, but a big thankyou to everyone who has supported this initiative.
  • The awarding of the inaugural Anne-Marie Halewood medal to a player in every team.

 

For those unaware, Anne-Marie Halewood was a long term team manager & our registration director in 2014 & 2015 who sadly passed away last year.  As well as being exceptional in these roles, Anne-Marie also had a passion for Indigenous Reconciliation and also for giving all kids the opportunity to participate in team sport, regardless of their cultural background or financial circumstances.   Anne-Marie was the vision, organisation & inspiration behind our first Indigenous Round and the Committee is proud and honoured to be able to award a medal in her name this weekend.  In keeping with the qualities Anne-Marie brought to our club, the medal will be awarded to a boy or girl  in each team who best displays the attributes of outstanding effort, outstanding team work and respect of opposition and officials.   All medal winners are invited and encouraged back to the club on Sunday night where they will be presented with the medal on stage by Melbourne football Club player, Neville Jetta.

 

 

 

This Sunday Night:   Indigenous Round Celebrations

 

Age Group:  No set age group – please come down and show your support to the cause, celebrate our medal winners & honour Anne-Marie’s legacy.  This promises to be a great social night for our club.

 

Food:  Free pizza for the kids from 6:30 strictly on a first come, first served basis.  Sous chef Mark Taranto steps up to the (hot) plate to deliver his finest adult meals.

 

Guest Speakers:  Melbourne FC player, Neville Jetta and our own resident TV superstar, Shelley Ware.

 

Raffles:  The Joker Jackpot increases to $300 & the seafood tray is back..   Once again a lucky player will grab a $25 Rebel voucher in Lucky Balls .

 

Next week –  U13’s Night.

 

 

Social Events

 

POKER NIGHT, POKER NIGHT, POKER NIGHT – Poker night numbers need to be finalised with the organisers on Monday so if you are coming please purchase your tickets this weekend.  Tickets available at the canteen, over the bar or via your team managers or just ring or email me directly.   There is no experience necessary, no pressure & no allocated seating – it will be great fun, the bar is open, the footy on TV & ample finger food included in your ticket price.  Tickets are $50 and all funds raised go towards putting some much needed toilet facilities in our Greensborough Park change rooms.  First prize is a Bali Holiday Package with prizes awarded to all on the final table of 9.

 

Unfortunately, we will be resting the Sportsman’s Lunch for this year, with the hope of returning bigger & better next year.  The upside is you now have no reason to miss Poker night !!

 

Our Gala Ball returns this year on Friday 5th August.  Start thinking about getting your team table together and keep your eye out over the next couple of weeks for further information & details on how to book.

 

 

From Around the Club:

 

SALT (Sport & Life Training) nights are being held next week for our Colts & Youth Girls ( Tuesday 31st May) and our U15 Boys & top age U15 Girls ( Wednesday 1st June) – these nights are a professionally run, interactive& fun night focusing on important topics such as Drugs & Alcohol, Respect for Women & Mental Health & Well Being.  At St Mary’s we think it is important not only to develop players not only into fine footballers but also into fine young men & woman in our community.  I encourage all boys & girls in these age groups to come along for what we think is a very important night in developing the culture of our club.

 

Our Ladies Night last week was a huge success – thanks mainly to the outstanding efforts of Melinda Read & Alicia Braid.  As always, what happens on ladies night, stays on ladies night, but suffice to say all 120 attendees had a great time and the whisper is it was possibly the best one yet.  Thanks heaps Alicia & Melinda and all of the other volunteers involved.

 

Photo Day is next Sunday 5th June 7 the following Wednesday 8th June.  Team managers will be distributing photo order envelopes this Sunday to be returned before your photo time.  Due to some late changes in the fixture, we are still putting some final touches on the schedule and will have all photo times finalised on Monday.  Full details to follow by email or check with your team manager.

 

The club is happy to provide free crepe paper and poles (where available) for milestone banners.  If you have a milestone coming up, can I just ask that you plan ahead and collect your crepe paper & poles from the bar on the Sunday night before your game and return the poles asap afterwards so they are available for the next user.  It is difficult to organise midweek collection so your co-operation in collecting of a Sunday night would be appreciated.

 

If anyone has any member achievements (inside or outside of football) that deserve a mention please send me an email.

 

 

Team Sponsors of the Week

 

O’Kellys Pest Control (10 Black) are a family owned & operated Pest Control business specialising in both residential & commercial pest control.  If you have problem with household pests please make our generous team sponsors your first call – all the details via their website: http://www.okellypestcontrol.com/

 

Becks Bedding (Girls U15-2) are also a proud family owned business since 1948.  They understand that everyone is different and not one mattress is best or suits all.  That is why they wil make a mattress to suit you so you sleep better and enjoy life.  Check them out here http://www.becksbedding.com.au/.

 

Enjoy your games this weekend and I hope to see you all back on Sunday night for indigenous Round celebrations.

 

Go Burra,

 

 

Evan Butterworth

President