BHFNC President's Update

What a year so far!

President’s Mid-Season Update

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Hi All

With the season in its second half, I thought it would be timely to reflect on BHFNC and what has occurred already in 2017 across the whole club.

Firstly, let me say thanks to all of our volunteers across all parts of our club. Every week we have committed and passionate people who coach our juniors, manager our teams, cook BBQs, umpire games, serve in the canteen, clean the clubrooms……. And the list goes on. Our club is only as good as it is because of the people within it, and we wouldn’t have a club without all of you who volunteer – so thank you for all you have done so far!

Net Set Go. This year we had 60 kids having fun and learning skills. We had some new faces this as coaches / coordinators so massive thanks to Bec Stephens, Jess Dallimore, Krissi Shimmin, Tara Bennett and Sam Edis. It was fantastic to see so many kids getting the chance to learn netball and enjoy themselves on our new netball facilities.

Auskick. Wow! For those of you who have been up at the ground or in the clubrooms on a Friday night – kids everywhere, and it’s great. We are wrapped that this year our numbers have gone through the roof. Auskick has finished for this year and what a great job Amy, Matt, Boris and Flash have done – thanks team!

Junior Netball:  Barwon Heads’ junior teams have maintained their strong position in the league in 2017.  While it is still early to call, it is looking very likely that all of our Saturday junior teams will play finals this year and our challenge now is to get those teams right through the finals series.  Of our 10 junior teams, 6 play on Saturdays with the rest of the club.  One of our Under 13 teams and one Under 11 team play in the Friday night competition in Geelong and our 2 younger Under 11 teams play in Ocean Grove on Tuesdays.  Many of our teams are being coached by senior players or ex-senior players and this transfer of knowledge to our juniors could well be attributing to the club’s success.  Lee Scott, our junior coordinator does a remarkable job setting up and getting the action under way each Saturday.  She is ably assisted by numerous committee and parents who ensure we run an organized and efficient junior program.

Junior Football. This year saw a transition in Junior Coordination form the legendary John Ollis to the Torvall & Dean team of Cam Don and Susie Robinson (or Abbott & Costello – not the politician variety, maybe Startsky & Hutch……). Anyway, with teams from U9’s through to U16, the future looks bright. We are committed to One Club so it has been great to have Cam on the BHFNC Committee this year. We also have some new Coaches and the ongoing support of past Coaches is very much appreciated.

Girls Football. 3 teams in 2017 – if you want to see footy played purely for the love & enjoyment of the game, get along to Girls Footy when you can – the atmosphere is fantastic. Special mention to the U19 Girls team who took it upon themselves to make sure BHFNC had a team in 2017. Thanks to Adam, Peter, Trev & Cam for coaching the teams.

Senior Netball:  It is within the senior ranks that Barwon Heads has really made a move this season.  We are one of only two teams in the league to field a Division 4 side which plays across both BFL and GFL.  We are delighted to note that Barwon Heads is doing extremely well in this competition and, under the guidance of Sandy Goddard, looks like being a strong finals contender.  Again, while it is an early call, it is likely that all of our senior teams will play finals too.  Having dropped some games that we should have won, in all divisions, the girls will have to work hard during the remainder of the season; however, finals are definitely within reach for all senior teams.   Our coaches are working hard and are determined to lead us into September with all guns blazing!

Senior Football. Congratulations to Tim A, Mitch, Bobby, Philpy, Jeremy, Shane and Sam and the list goes on. To have such a dedicated and talented group of coaches and support staff involved in our senior football program is fantastic – with pleasing results coming from their hard work this far in the season. We have added a couple of experienced players this year and what has been really enjoyable has been seeing our younger players come through, play in the seniors and make a real contribution.

Our Sponsors. Thankyou! Your support for BHFNC is very much appreciated. This season we have welcomed new sponsors and welcomed back sponsors who have been with us over the journey. We have a new Premium sponsor in Rodpak, our Major sponsors in Bellarine Property and Barwon Heads Community Bank, Platinum sponsors The Beachouse and Macafee Investments and over 25 Gold, Silver and Bronze sponsors (have a look at our website to see who they are and if you get a chance, please support them!). Thanks to Kylie and Steve for their ongoing work with this valuable group of people.

Captain’s Club. I’ve read Tim Goddard’s Captains Club updates……to say they occasionally take an indirect route to discussions about BHFNC might be an understatement. But what is not under-estimated is the very much valued support of Tim and this group of passionate supporters. We love having all of the Captain Club along for the journey and really appreciate the great contribution you make around the club.

Our Members & Our Players. We know you have a choice as to where you play and which club you join so we thank you for being with the Mighty Seagulls.

Some final thoughts:

BHFNC has a proud history and an exciting future.

Our purpose is to provide the best possible environment for members to experience a community sporting club promoting participation, achievement and contribution.

Our mission is to be recognised as a competitive, community orientated, professional, fun and successful sporting club, equally admired for on-field and off-field achievements.

So far in 2017 we have had had some great achievements, and a hell of a lot of fun……

  • We started the year with another extremely successful Oats Vic Golf Open – thanks 13th Beach Golf Links and all who helped park cars and drive buses, excellently led by Jerome.
  • Our own Golf Day at 13th Beach was a great fundraiser (and a lot of fun). Thanks Morris Finance, Wow and team.
  • We instigated our Trivia Night which was a great success. I got to see a lot more of some people than ideally I should have, but it was all in good fun and a great fundraiser for the club.
  • How good was Easter Saturday? The atmosphere around the whole club was electric? There were people everywhere!
  • We opened our new netball facilitities and football surface – this was a great achievement and a really strong commitment to our future
  • The BHFNC Barista team have been a great addition to our home games. The core group was already legendary within Junior Football, so the expanded team (complete with valuable guidance from The Beachouse team) really add to the home game atmosphere
  • The Mystery Bus Tour was an excellent afternoon. I think we have started something here that will only get bigger and better. Look out Indi and Nikel – we are coming back (and thanks!)
  • BHFNC merchandise sales are booming. I love being around Barwon Heads and seeing our iconic Seagull image on kids and adults alike wandering up and down the street.
  • We have had a number of our players be invited to train with and be selected to player in rep and inter-league teams. Congratulations to you all and again this is a great recognition of the focus we have on developing skills.
  • Our special Sponsors function with Graham Waldron was insightful and entertaining
  • The recent BHFNC Cocktail Party at The Inn was a lot of fun – thanks to Dogga and Boris for providing your venue.
  • The BHFNC Canteen Team has welcomed back some (not so) old faces and welcomed new faces from Junior Football, Netball, Colts and Senior Players – thanks to all of you who have helped out under the tightly choreographed guidance of Tim G & Tim A.
  • We have music back in the clubrooms after some of our home games – please come on up, the updates from Netball and Football, then kick start your Saturday night.
  • The past players and administrators day was another great success. Thanks to Clarky, Hildo, Joffa and team – we are already looking forward to next year. It was great to also celebrate the 1957 Premiership – well organised Tim G.
  • We have had extra support and guidance this year from Mark and Paul Corrigan, Shannon Knox-Gray and Brendon McCartney – that fact that these quality and experienced people give up their time for our club is amazing.

The list could go on. And it will, we have more to come:

  • I’m really excited to see how all of our teams progress in the second half of the season. Our values of Enthusiasm and Commitment, Respectfulness and Accountability, Teamwork and Collaboration & Development and Excellence are on show every time we take the court / ground – and that is so pleasing to see.
  • The social calendar is set – make sure you don’t miss:
    • Deadset Humdingers on 29th July at the Clubrooms – this will be a whole lot of fun!
    • Junior Presentation Day on Sunday 13th August at the club
    • Our Senior Presentation Night at Geelong Cats on Friday 15th September
  • Off course, we look forward to seeing you at our last 3 home games and up at the club on Thursday nights.

A quick final thanks to the BHFNC Committee – your continued contribution is very much appreciated.

My final invitation to you all, if you want to get involved, please do so. We are always grateful for help on game days, your team coaches and managers are regularly on the hunt for an extra set of hands at training, there are numerous opportunities to cook a BBQ or mark out a field…..- if you are not sure how you can help, please ask as you definitely can!

I know there will be people, events and milestones that I have missed, so I do apologise in advance – your omission was not deliberate. This is already more words than I wrote in my final 3 years of high school (gee I loved Year 10!), so my original intent to be brief has not been achieved.

But, when you are having a year like we have at BFHNC, there is a lot to celebrate.

Go Gulls!

Brett Lewis

Proud President BHFNC