As the incoming President of SCFC, I would firstly like thank and congratulate the many volunteers who helped deliver a very positive 2021 season. Whilst the past 12-24 months have been heavily impacted by COVID, we certainly made the most of the opportunities we had. It was wonderful to see the smiles on kids’ faces and the sweat on the brows of our senior players as everyone hit the pitch as often as possible. I want to also acknowledge the dedication and passion of our Past President, Mariela, and thank all the outgoing committee members for their time and effort.

 

As a club, we are in an exciting period! With season 2021 now behind us, we look ahead to a very promising season 2022, which is fast approaching. Work is well underway on the significant Pavilion upgrade, and it’s great to see the slab down, the walls going up and progress tracking to plan. The improved pavilion will deliver some amazing new facilities, including;

• two grandstands that overlook pitches 1 and 2

• a dedicated SCFC clubroom with our own kitchen facilities

• new changerooms to better cater for our men’s and women’s teams and back to back / concurrent games

• improved storage with roller-door access to more easily store goals and equipment

 

Out on the pitch it has been great to see our Term 4 Academy led by FA qualified coach Matt Betts so well attended, and some teams still getting together for training. Enquiries for Season 2022 are coming in fast, many from new families wanting to join our club. All this encourages us to look ahead with enthusiasm as season 2022 promises to be bigger and better. With thanks to Council, our grass pitches and lights are undergoing some much-needed maintenance in readiness for our return early in 2022.

 

I look forward to providing further updates about our plans for 2022 over the coming months, but I can confirm that we are working towards having teams in all local divisions, for both boys / men and girls / women! When the relevant information is on hand, we will be in touch with all current members via email and will also share the most up-to-date information via our Instagram and Facebook pages.

 

And now a little introduction from me, for those around the club who don’t know me… 

 

I have been involved in soccer (as I grew up calling it) for most of my life. As a youngster living in Shepparton, I would convert our shed into the World Cup headquarters every 4 years by installing an ultra-long, home-made aerial so I could tune in to the SBS coverage, with the spare doona being essential given the winter time-slot.

 

On the pitch I started out playing in my school team, then moved through the ranks of the North Eastern Soccer League (playing for Tatura) and for some league rep teams before moving to Melbourne for University where I played for the Melbourne Uni Rangers. As my ankles started to fail, I pretty much hung up my outdoor boots and travelled to the UK where I played 5 a side in Scotland. When I returned to Australia, I continued playing indoor soccer. As a spectator, I was lucky enough to travel to the 2006 World Cup as well as watching my club teams, Man United, Glasgow Rangers and Western United. Nowadays, I live out my playing ambitions via my two children who are both members of the club.

 

I invite you all to get involved with our Club. We are always on the lookout for volunteers, around the club to assist with coaching and managing teams, running events, sorting and distributing kits etc as well as on committees. When our new pavilion opens, we will also be on the lookout for a canteen manager and people to help with canteen service. If you would like to offer your skills and services, we’d love to hear from you! Please reach out via admin@surfcoastfc.com

 

I look forward to seeing you all out on the pitch in 2022!