Presidents - Mid Season Report

Season 2014 is now almost half gone and as we get into the “business end” of the season for the competitive teams, it’s timely that we have a look at where we are at as a club.

We have hosted 6 home games out of the 9 rounds so far, with one being a wash-out. This in itself has proved a little challenging and tiring for our core group of volunteers, and I thank those involved in the canteen, the ground set-up, the line-marking, the scoreboards attendants, the volunteer umpires, the time-keeping, the goal umpiring, the ground marshals…. the list goes on, but being part of a footy club really does mean being a volunteer. It’s all about being part of the team. As it now stands, we host three more game days at Rockville being against South Burnett (8’s, 10’s and 14’s only), Highfields and University. I look forward to and encourage some new faces to lend a hand on these days where you can.

Women and Footy – For far too long, footy has focussed its attention to men and boys, but in recent times the wheel has started to turn full circle – and mind you, all for the better. But there is much more to it than encouraging young girls to play Auskick for a few years and then move on to something else when the boys get too rough. Although our club does not have a senior women’s team for season 2014, next year I’d like to think we can develop our club path-way for the likes of the female superstars that we currently host. The skills, determination and love for footy for our heroines in yellow and black should not be lost at under 14’s – lets get on board so that our Laurens, our Ambers, our Selena’s, our Rachel’s, our Tiarna’s, our Charlottes and all our other Tigresses, can continue to play the sport they love – and for the Tigers. Did you know that the current president of the Richmond Tigers AFL Club is a female? – Peggy O’Neill is also the first female AFL/VFL president in the history- of the game – so this in itself speaks volumes of the importance that our game places on the involvement of women in AFL. There are mountains of opportunities that this will bring to the unity of our club – I want to start the conversation, please play your part in the development of our club – why not identify some mums, some girlfriends, wives or sisters who might be interested and we can start off with some training now!!!!

We have some exciting times ahead for our club, and we are always looking for new ideas to make all of our member’s footy experience positive. You can help out with the future of our club by coming along to our general meetings, which over the footy season are held monthly on a Monday night. Our next one is this coming Monday – the 30th of June at 7pm at Delacey’s. It would be great to see some new faces there!!!

I’d like to thank our coaches and managers for their ongoing support, and wish all our teams all the best for their coming games leading up to finals. Play hard, take pride in your club, and most importantly, enjoy your footy!!!

Up the Tigers!!!

Jeremy SHELDRICK

TAFC President