The Talon February 1996

"General message from the President

Welcome to the 1996 season. In a few weeks our adult teams will be back in action in pre-season cups and in April the league season commences for both adult and junior teams. The year promises to be an exciting period and the depth of the club’s talent will be put under pressure as we compete in the four highest competitions. The State League seniors will be looking for a league premiership double after victory last year. The State League reserves only need to take a step further than the previous two seasons to show their premiership potential. The Premier League side (formerly Division One) will be keen to continue their encouraging start made last year, and the Premier League reserves will be another avenue for young players to show their talents. With four competitive teams to put on the park, it will be critical that players and coaches work together to get the right mix and ensure everybody can participate in our first year that we can truly call Clare Street our home. We look like fielding junior sides in the Under 13, 14, 15 and 16 age groups, and it is anticipated that one or two junior sides per week will play curtain-raiser games to the State League or Premier League competitions.

We have an initial three year contract with the council over the use of Clare Street and we will use this season to assess the value of putting additional money into better facilities around the ground. A basic clubroom attached to the existing change-room/kiosk facility would cost in the vicinity of $40,000-$50,000, and other issues such as extra fencing, floodlighting, car parking and ground conditions need to be considered carefully before committing ourselves for the long term. Your support of Clare Street, whether it be using the kiosk/bar or helping out on match days, would be most appreciated.

As most of you would be aware we have signed a sponsorship deal with Umbro, one of the world’s largest soccer equipment manufacturers. The deal benefits both parties, and the initial year sees Umbro providing us with a certain amount of equipment in return for us purchasing strips for the remaining sides. This means that teams from Under 14 to State League Seniors will all be wearing the same Umbro design strip. Obviously this is a costly exercise to go into in the short term, so we are putting a one-off registration levy of $35 per player to offset about some of the cost of the strips. This will mean that parents do not have to buy socks or shorts for their boys, as they will be part of the complete strip.

Committee

At the AGM held in December two new members were elected to the general committee, Eugene Rosinski and Paul Kish. Eugene has been involved with the soccer club and Polish Club for many years and last year was presented with Bill Jones Memorial Award for services to the club. Paul Kish is a sports presenter with Southern Cross television and will be working on our sponsorship and marketing activities. Please make them welcome. The executive committee remains the same, David Stoddart Jnr (President), Stan Roberts (Vice President), Maria Murray (Secretary), Andrew Leszczynski (Treasurer) and Craig Pitt, Colin Shepherd, Brett Stoddart, Steve Murray, Steve Vernon, Joy Stoddart and Greg Fay remain as general committee members and Ken Street is our junior liaison officer. Frank Bansel has returned to the club after a short absence and is also assisting the committee in its activities. This year will see a heavy workload placed on the committee and if there are any parents who would like to help out at functions, kiosk, etc, you would be welcomed with open arms.

Functions

Our fundraising efforts will also need to be pushed strongly and we ask you to let us know what type of functions you would like to have. Once the junior roster have been put in place we will be setting down dates for our functions and we expect good attendances at these events.

Our first fund-raiser will be a BBQ at Tolosa Park Reserve on Sunday March 10th at 12 noon in hut number 10 near the music bowl. Senior teams will be training their at 11:00am and the juniors may care to watch or have a kick with the players at noon."