Chairperson’s Report 2018

The future for Whyalla is looking very promising since Sanjeev has taken over the Steelworks. They are now spending more money on maintenance to ensure the plant is reliable. As a result, contractors are getting more work which in turn more money will be spent in town. Hopefully that means more sponsorship money and players in the near future.

There were talks of going to 4 teams, after have a strategic session with the SANFL, they do not agree 4 teams is better than our current setup as we reduce the ability for people to play the game ie less teams means less people can play. It is up to the league and the clubs to do something different to attract more people to play.

The WBFC football club has done reasonably well at fielding teams in all grades each week with no forfeits, but we don not always have full teams each week and players generally need to play up to ensure we have full teams. Our challenge over the next 1-2 years is to encourage more people to play football at our club so we are less reliant on people playing up to field teams, this will also bring more members into the club.

Another way to get more members and revenue into the club would be to look at starting a female side or an over 45 side. Both are an untapped resource and potentially another 40 people into the club ie 2 teams. I strongly think we need to consider this in the new year. Where the girls, and I am talking 16 and over playing senior girls’ competition. They could train on a Wednesday and play on a Friday night at our ground under lights. Same as the over 45 team.

On the footy front, we made it into the grand final which was fantastic and shows how much the guys and the team have grown over the years. The main thing is the side keeps improving and developing. At the beginning of the season we were hoping to make the finals but not play off in the gf, so our development is ahead of schedule. Next season we are hopeful to be playing again in the gf and this time we want to win. Jake will be playing with us again next season, and Jerry will be playing with us fulltime as well and we have got Xavier playing who has play for the Port Magpies, so he will be a very valuable player for us next season. Next season will be a bit tougher as Centrals and North, have lured back some good players to the club. South, North and Centrals all have 100-year birthdays next season, so they will be pulling all stops out to make it a successful year.

Congratulations also goes to the u14’s who also got into the grand final last season.

We also had some good individual performances though out the year and to those people I congratulate them, they were all recognised during the annual dinner, so I will not go through them now.

If you want to keep up with what is going on within the club, I implore you to go to our website or our Facebook page, both Don and Lucy do a fantastic job with keeping these up to date with the latest news

It was fantastic for Steve and Brad get involved with the ride for sick they do us proud.

Some achievements for the year,

·         Got the caravaners back to the bays.

·         New fridges and freezers for the kitchen.

·         98% ticket sales for the cash raffle

·         50^th birthday celebrations was a fantastic weekend.

·         New floor went in near the kitchen

·         Built a new store room near the entrance

·         Removed the bi-fold doors

·         Moved the photos

·         Install new sign over bar

·         Relocated all the trophies and put them in one spot

·         Purchase a defibulator machine

·         Purchased new security cameras

·         Installed new air conditioners

Some things we are looking into for the future,

·         New gym / change rooms

·         Women’s team

·         Over 45 team

·         Purchase new chairs so they all look the same

·         Install more solar panels

·         Remove Xmas lights and tidy up the wall

·         Tidy up the disable toilet and install more storage

·         Install new led lighting in the club to help reduce our power bill

·         Purchase a coring machine

·         Replace the roof signage

I like to give special thankyou to Pam who is retiring from running the kitchen, Pam has given us fantastic service over the years and will be sorely missed, thank you very much Pam.

Naomi Hall has agreed to take over this role and I would like to thank Naomi for stepping up and helping us out.

Pam will still be doing the treasurers job and giving Naomi some advice on the running of the kitchen.

Lastly, I would like to thank all the helpers, coaches, volunteers, players, members, life members, committee members and the management committee for making this club great, keep up the good work.

Kevin Moore