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A big welcome once again to our many returning members and players, and also to those new to Souths in all age groups.
2009 shapes up to be a huge season for us, as we again anticipate demand for growth in our player numbers. Unfortunately we will struggle to sustain this growth with the training and playing space currently available to us. In season 2008 we used our training fields 2, 3, 4 & 5 so heavily that they haven’t recovered to the standard we like to see in February.
As a stop-gap measure, we will once again use the floodlit field at Runcorn State High School three nights a week for junior and senior training. This comes at a cost to the Club of course, however the school now sees us as a community partner and so they have been very reasonable in making these arrangements. Surprisingly the division that is under most pressure to grow is in fact the senior men’s teams. Whether or not this is due to the quality of our main field or just a general increase in interest in football by guys in the late teens and early twenties I don’t know, but if we can find a way to accommodate them it has to be a good thing for the future of the Club. Our ladies teams are also set for a season of new growth and consolidation, after some issues in 2008 that saw numbers at the top level reduce a little. In 2009 we’re confident of getting a junior girls team together, possibly Under 12 or 13, in addition to at least 3 divisional teams and possibly an under 18 side. And of course our juniors just go from strength to strength. This season the introduction of what is now called Optus Small Sided Football extends to Under 9. These teams will play against other clubs using field 5, and at this age goalkeepers become part of the game again. We’re sure all SSF ages groups (U6 – U9) will continue to enjoy the game based on the principle of having fun and being involved as much as possible. In the competitive Divisional age groups we are likely to field teams in Division 1 in Under 11, 12, 14 and 16, and in Under 13 and 15 our top teams will participate in the elite Brisbane Junior League competition. We’re particularly excited about our Under 15 age group, which will certainly have 3 teams and possibly 4. This bodes very well for the Club’s Mens Youth teams over the next couple of years, and will continue the trend of Souths players starting to make up a substantial component of our Premier teams. Off the field your Management Committee has been busy as usual, although there might not be as much visible development as has been in recent off seasons. The major project was the renovation of all fields by the Club’s valued supporter, David Burrup. Over $30,000 had to be spent on the fields, including re-turfing high wear areas, top dressing, coring, fertilizing, and spraying weeds and grubs. This expenditure is a “necessary evil” with the volume of use our fields get during the season. The slasher mower deck used on the back fields required replacement, and there have been various other issues with machinery and irrigation systems. Our thanks once again to Warren Whitaker for his tireless work on the grounds. The frustrating change rooms project continues, however we’ve now put the job in the hands of a Town Planning professional to ensure it eventually gets finished. Those strange looking structures against the North Eastern fence of field one are about 20 metres of covered spectator seating, “procured” from a disused sports field on the Northside by David Burrup. Once repaired and installed they will provide comfortable seating for a good number of supporters watching games on field 2. We’ve recently held a meeting with the Council’s Leasing department and the Deputy Mayor, our local councillor Graham Quirk, regarding the land on the corner across Dew Street. Whilst the meeting was generally positive, it is clear that we’re not going to get access to this land overnight, as Council requires a full development and finance plan for the site before giving the matter any further consideration. Councillor Quirk is however very supportive of the Club and this project. On the issue of planning we’ll soon have the Club’s first 5 year Strategic Plan available to members. This will be the outcome of an extensive consultation and planning process facilitated by the CPR Group using a Qld Dept of Sport and Recreation Club Development Programme grant. So as always there’s plenty happening at Souths in 2009. We’d love to have more members involved in these processes, so if you’d like to help please don’t hesitate to say hello to a Management Committee member. Most importantly, whether you’re playing, coaching, managing, refereeing or watching, enjoy your season of football! Regards Geoff Doyle
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