Newsletter | Alphington FC

Mid-year Newsletter

Alphington Football Club Community Newsletter August 2021

Hello everyone and welcome to our mid-year Alphington Football Club community newsletter.

People say a week is a long time in football. Never have words rung truer during a pandemic. With news of Melbourne entering our sixth lockdown, I wanted to acknowledge what a difficult year we’ve all faced and I hope people continue to stay safe and positive. Community sport for many has been the perfect distraction and I’m really hopeful we see a return to play shortly.

Playing community sport over the last couple of years has plenty of unexpected turns and I’d like to thank our players, coaches, parents, team managers and our committee who have been incredibly flexible, easy-going and adaptable as we’ve navigated season 2021.

Despite the challenges and interruptions, I’m humbled by the activity and energy that surrounds our Club. If you read on, you’ll find updates on our double-header fundraiser, a social tournament for mums, our new coaching program, end-of-season festivities and apparel for next year.

On the pitch, our performances this year have been really encouraging and, importantly, we’re finishing the second half of the season strongly. Our senior teams are holding their own in their respective competitions with some excellent wins and hard-fought losses. The investment in our coaches over the last couple of seasons is starting to really show through.

We’re very proud of our junior teams’ much improved performances in the second half of the season, reflecting their commitment and development. All of the teams have had some solid games. In terms of individual results, the u11 boys are a stand-out team this year. There’s no ladder in u11s, but if there was one the Bluetongues would be on top. Well done to the team and first-time parent coaches, Mark Roby and Dugald Christie-Johnston (with some back up from our senior reserves men's coach Chris Natsis).

Another pleasing development for our Club is the number of returning and new players who have joined this year. We’re already planning for next year and I’m pleased to announce that, thanks to the Club’s popularity, we’ll be adding extra teams. Next year there will be an under 8s team, as well as u14 girls’ and boys’ teams. We’ll also be adding a third time slot for our successful development squad (ages 5 to 9).

Kelly Crosthwaite

Club President

Double-header fundraiser

While this weekend's double-header community event isn't going ahead, not even lockdown 6.0 can stop our online fundraiser!

You have until Monday to purchase a ticket and enter our $5 fundraiser raffle for some awesome prizes. Thanks to all our local businesses, sponsors and partners who have chipped in.

On Monday at 7pm two of our junior players will draw out the names during a live Zoom feed.

Check out our Facebook page or website for details.

Fireworks night – save the date

We all know that a lot can happen between now and September, but that won’t stop us planning our famous end-of-season fireworks night.

This year’s event is scheduled for Saturday 10 September and for those who haven’t experienced the event before, it’s easily the biggest social and fundraising event for the Club. This year’s event is extra special because it’s the first to be named after Roj Peine. Roj was involved with AFC for many years and was the pyrotechnician who ran our first ever fireworks display, a job he loved and was dedicated to up until 2019 when he sadly passed. In honour of Roj and his family, the fireworks will be named The Roj Peine Memorial Fireworks Night.

Presentation night

This year we've decided not to have a whole-of-Club presentation night. Each team will instead organise a separate event to celebrate the end of the season. Managers and coaches are on top of this and you’ll receive more information from them as we approach the end of the season.

Go Soccer Mums tournament

We’ve registered an Alphington Bluetongues team in the Inaugural Go Soccer Mums Cup event and we’re actively seeking players.

Go Soccer Mums is an introductory football program designed by Football Victoria specifically for women. It’s all about having fun and learning basic football skills in a social environment.

It's not just for mums, but for all women from all walks of life. It doesn't matter if you have never kicked a football before; absolutely no experience is necessary - anybody can take part!

It’s a five-a-side all-day tournament and it’s scheduled for Monday 16 August. To help our team prepare, two of our junior girls have volunteered to help put us through our paces.

Please contact Kelly Crosthwaite if you're interested: kelly.crosthwaite@gmail.com

Coaching program

A big focus of our club is on developing our current coaches across all age levels, and creating pathways for players and parents interested in future coaching roles. That’s why we launched our own coaching program with support from Football Victoria who will run some accredited coach training sessions at Alphington Park. Around 25 players and coaches have signed up and we’re currently developing information packs for all of our coaches next year.

The coaching program is supported by Bendigo Bank and the Victorian Government's Change the Game program. We're grateful to both organisations for the support we have received to get this off the ground.