Another successful football season has drawn to an end and for some it couldn't come quickly enough and for others they would love it to go all year round.
This year 19 teams hit the field which is the most sides this club has fielded in its long history. It was great to see 3 Under 9 teams front up again which show that the numbers are strong and will continue to be for many years to come. Great job to all the U/9 and U/10 coaches this year as one could see the improvement from Round 1 where the kids just chase the ball to Round 14 where they hold their positions and work towards a basic game plan. Out of a possible 13 teams that could make the finals 9 teams did which is a great effort. Out of those 9 teams which made the finals 6 teams finished third or higher with 4 teams reaching the grand final. To Garry O'Donnell and the U/12 Whites and Rick Quadara and the U/15 Whites both these teams were premiers for 2008 -so well done to all. The U/12 whites won by more than 10 goals to really stamp their domination in that division and for those lucky enough to be at Lloyd 3 to watch the U/15 whites come from behind after being down by 8 points with 2 minutes to go and kick the winning goal with the last kick of the day was fantastic. Well done to those two teams. To Tony Collins and the U/13 Kangas and Rob Kiely and the U/14 Blues for finishing runners up - credit to both teams for their never say die attitude in fighting their games right out to the end.
To all teams - coaches, team managers and other helpers throughout the year a big thank you goes out to you as your role in making the year successful doesn't go unnoticed. As a parent if your reading this AGM Report can you jump up and pat your son on the back and say well done from the pres and all the committee.
Speaking of the committee may l say a big thankyou to all that have put up their hands and have delivered on their commitment? This newly formed committee has done a number of things this year that has made the LJFC a better place to be around. The committee sat down in November last year and set themselves short, medium and long term goals to achieve and most of the short and medium term goals were completed with the long term goals more around 2-3 projects which includes the new pavillion for Lloyd 2 and 3.
I need to single out a couple of people that have put in over and above not only this year but for many years. To Greg Pretty - Vice President, can l say a big thank you for supporting me in my role as President this year and for your many years of dedicated service to this club. Greg you leave this place in a much better position than you found it and a great spring board for the new committee to work with. To Maria Totaro who has this year taken over the treasurer's role - the turn around and professionalism that you have brought to this club financially sets us up well for the future.
To the best secretary going around - Robyn Bromley what a great back up you have been and always on hand to do any job and have brought a different touch to our committee (along with the other girls on the committee). Mr Versatile Mick Curran along with Rick Magill have managed the grounds and any other odd job around the place. Also Mick took over sponsorship this year and delivered over and above - well done. To Joelle Taylor for organising all the clubs merchandise - thanks for your time and effort and l'm sure that Donna Gage helped along the way too.
As a committee we decided that the club needed a little work and we came up with a "Langwarrin Building Fund" which would be run totally separate from the junior books to raise money to spend on a number of things identified earlier in the year ie. renovations in the social club which included new carpet, new sponsored tables, relocating the office , moving the players sponsors board, buying flags for the new flag poles, purchasing a plasma TV , replacing the air conditioning system, updating the bar and naming the bar "The Kanga Bar" and building a veranda over the junior club rooms. To Leith Gage, Gerrome Russo, Mark A'Vard, Chris Willems, Gary Howard, Mick Curran, Steve Abblitt, Paul Fulton, Ed Fischer and others for working, donating and completing all the above mentioned projects and developing a building fund - these are the small things that visually make a big difference. To all - well done.
One of the major introductions this year was to hold a Gala Ball which for the 100 or so people that turned up was a night of recognition, dancing and celebrating our year of change.
To all people that helped in running the finals series (for the second year ) a very big thank you for making it the best ever final series that the league has held and it was because of all the volunteers that made it happen.
To all this years U/16's - thank you for your efforts not only this year but for the many years of football served at our club and may we wish you all the best in your future football careers and may we see a number of you pull on the Langwarrin senior jumper in the coming years.
To Gavin and Sonia Leahy who have indicated that this year will be the last year that their business Leahy Art & Design will be putting together the Kanganoos - our Kanganoos is the envy of all other clubs and for the last 5 years the work and professional way in which you have organised this - it leaves us with a big gap to fill. What a job and thank you from all the mums, dads, players and sponsors.
Financially the club is sound and we made a promise to make sure that we presented Profit and Loss statements every month and we would run the club as a business and a professional one at that. We have built business plans and have short, medium and long term goals in place and will continue to update these plans as the years go by and will always be a transparent committee for all to see what direction this great club is heading in.
On a final note - it has been a privilege to represent the LJFC as President this year. This is only the beginning of the new direction and culture change that is required to make this club not a good club but a great one. Please enjoy the break from football over the summer and come back in 2009 ready and raring to go.
I cannot finish without thanking my family for allowing me to take this role on. I'm sure that in some way the family has suffered from the amount of time that it takes me away from the family home but for their understanding - l can only say THANKS.
Go Langy!
Rob Prosser
President
One of the major introductions this year was to hold a Gala Ball which for the 100 or so people that turned up was a night of recognition, dancing and celebrating our year of change.
To all people that helped in running the finals series (for the second year ) a very big thank you for making it the best ever final series that the league has held and it was because of all the volunteers that made it happen.
To all this years U/16's - thank you for your efforts not only this year but for the many years of football served at our club and may we wish you all the best in your future football careers and may we see a number of you pull on the Langwarrin senior jumper in the coming years.
To Gavin and Sonia Leahy who have indicated that this year will be the last year that their business Leahy Art & Design will be putting together the Kanganoos - our Kanganoos is the envy of all other clubs and for the last 5 years the work and professional way in which you have organised this - it leaves us with a big gap to fill. What a job and thank you from all the mums, dads, players and sponsors.
Financially the club is sound and we made a promise to make sure that we presented Profit and Loss statements every month and we would run the club as a business and a professional one at that. We have built business plans and have short, medium and long term goals in place and will continue to update these plans as the years go by and will always be a transparent committee for all to see what direction this great club is heading in.
On a final note - it has been a privilege to represent the LJFC as President this year. This is only the beginning of the new direction and culture change that is required to make this club not a good club but a great one. Please enjoy the break from football over the summer and come back in 2009 ready and raring to go.
I cannot finish without thanking my family for allowing me to take this role on. I'm sure that in some way the family has suffered from the amount of time that it takes me away from the family home but for their understanding - l can only say THANKS.
Go Langy!
Rob Prosser
President
