President's message

Welcome back. What a busy month of football it’s been.

Last Wednesday I was privileged to attend the presentation of the Capital Football Triennium Strategic Plan 2012-2015: ‘We are Football – The Game for Everyone.’ It was a great opportunity to celebrate the success of football in the region, with a participation rate of nearly 20,000 players in 2011. It also gave attendees a good insight into how Capital Football plans to enhance our sport and grow the business – the two main priorities. I had the opportunity to raise issues we have as a club concerning the administration of competitions and ask how Capital Football can assist us to lobby the government regarding fields that we are significant customers for. Keep an eye out for the release of the plan. We will compare it against our own Strategic Plan to ensure we are aligned with priorities and ideas. I was happy to see that Capital Football are appreciative of the work we have done to recognise the developing area of Molongolo as a good platform for achieving some of our own strategic goals.

At the dinner, I congratulated Capital Football on their success and support of all the other “product” available outside of the ordinary winter season and below follows some examples of just how many options there are for summer footballers including Futsal and women’s competitions at our own Waramanga fields. I am enjoying our Thursday night competition of Summer 6’s – but we did have many options to consider in choosing how to stay in touch over the summer.
 
David Hakaraia, our club Secretary, and I attended a meeting with Capital Football for our Women’s Premier League application, as did all clubs, and we had some very positive feedback. We expect to hear the outcomes of this process in early December and will communicate with all players in early December the timeline for season 2012 preparations.
 
Earlier in November I was fortunate to enjoy a weekend away in Narooma with some team mates (left), many of whom do a lot for the club. This is a highlight of our season. We played some golf and were blessed with perfect weather.
 
At a recent committee meeting we explored  ideas around the move from senior men and women committees to a single senior committee with  a representative from each arm and from each team as well. This will allow some economies of scale around tasks involved including registrar duties, field bookings and budgeting for things like equipment and strip ordering  and fee setting. Please discuss with your teammates and send me an e-mail with ideas or nominations (president@westoncreeksoccer.org.au).
 
I wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year and hope you have a chance to have a brief break from football – unless it’s on the beach! I look forward to staying in touch in early 2012.

Chris Brown (President)

Under 20's Summer Premier League - Creek's Last Stand

A bit like Custer at the Battle of Little Big Horn, the Creek faced some overwhelming odds in their last chance at glory in the Summer 20’s. Our el players, aged from 14 to 42, started sternly with excellent lines held by J.A at the back, and Ben Coates and Kian Prammer in the middle. Indeed, the Creek through Mark Abbott actually scored first. But the odds of victory started to climb as almost everybody aged over 19 started to cramp, fall over, hobble and be in some sort of pain. At one stage we had 8 players on the field! Despite this, we went in to the sheds with a head full of steam (that might just have been the rain) at 1-1.
 
The second half continued to look like a war of attrition with Russ hobbling, Mark Abbott coming and going like he was in a revolving door, and Mike Bruen trying to take J.A out! To the delight of the sparse but vocal crowd, Creek led 3-1 with five to play courtesy of goals from Ningers and Mark Abbott.
 
With excellent performances from the under 16 brigade of Simon RJ, Hamish Stafford, and Josh Brown, the crowd and team were rewarded for their efforts with a fine 3-2 win.
 
A great way to end the summer 20s comp – well done to all who played.

Women's football - Capital Football Summer Sixes

Masters Competition
Things are going well for both WC Masters teams at present with both teams sitting mid table. Team Black Magic have two wins and four losses and are benefitting from the expertise of coach Steve Ford and Wednesday training sessions. The team has dramatically improved its scoring and defeated the second place Lanyon team in their outing. The Xenas have a one win, two draw and three loss record averaging over a goal a game to this point as they make a late charge for the finals.
 
Open Divisions
There are three WCSC teams in the top Open Division with the Prem Reserves girls of Let’s Get Messi sitting equal first with an impressive 5 win, one loss record. 15 goals in 6 games speaks volumes for their attacking flair with goal sneaking defender Keely Tonna jagging a few. Emma Wisdom in goal is also performing brilliantly. The other team from the Prem Reserves and U18s is Bain Train Baggage who sit 4 and 2 and hot on the heels of the leaders. Their 13 goals have been well spread with Alana getting rave reviews for her ‘keeping. Look out for the clash of these two teams in the next few weeks as a prelude to the finals.

The final team from SL1, the aptly named Girls With Balls, have three draws and three losses to their credit. With a bit of luck they could be further up the ladder. Well done to all teams – great to see so many WCSC players strutting their stuff.
 
ANU Summer 9s
The Prem Reserves team, Hey Orange – named in honour of Andy, are also playing Tuesdays at ANU and currently stand with a creditable 2 win, one loss record despite playing a couple of games short of numbers. Another WCSC based team named Spaced is currently sitting nicely in 4^thspot with a 3 win, 1 draw, 2 loss record. The team is a mix of Xenas, Rebels and features the formidable mother daughter combination of Liz and Erin. 12 goals in 6 games speaks volumes for their style of play.

Weston Derby in ANU Mega Sixes

Magpies Swoop on Challenging Boys U14 Summer Sixes Comp

(Felix, Riley, Aidan I, Aidan L, Luis, Steven, Ben, Indra)
 
There is nothing like keeping out of your comfort zone and trying something new.
The 14s are struggling on the smaller pitch but they have managed quite a few moments of brilliance.
 
I am immensely proud of the fact that they keep coming back every week with a great attitude and are playing a fair game. No time for shirt pulling, elbow raising, name calling on this team and I sincerely want to thank the 14s for this.
 
I’ve asked everyone to try something new, something they would not necessarily do over the regular season game. I’ve seen back heel passes, crossovers, and maybe even an attempt at a bicycle kick (not sure though it was a bit untidy).  It has been entertaining and we have managed to get a few more names on the goal-scoring list for the year.
 
We have a good run ahead for the close, and I expect we’ll finish somewhere in the middle.
 
Carry On Magpies!
 
Coach Milan

Indoor Soccer Update

The club is well represented with a number of teams playing indoor soccer on a Saturday morning. Reigning champions, the Geckos, remain undefeated in the U9/10 competition. With a capable coaching squad of older brothers, the boys took no time to readjust to playing off the nets. With Will light on his feet, moving around defenders, Patrick and Tom clearing the ball with ease, Liam and Corbin everywhere seemingly at once and Nick solid in goals. Josh backs up his cricket prowess on a Friday night with magic on the field.
 
Everyone is looking forward to when big brother Tom plays little brother, Nick in a match set to divide loyalties. Don't you just love a code we can play all year? Got some goss on a summer team? Let us know at media@westoncreeksoccer.org.au.

Talented 16-19 Year Olds Wanted!

A Men’s Div 2 side in 2012 will be based on the talented young players from the 2011 Weston Creek Div 1 Boys and some of the older U18 Div 2 Boys. Jordan Boddy has accepted the offer of Captain. Matt Boyd has accepted the offer of Vice Captain. We are recruiting now with training every Tues and Thurs starting 31 Jan 2012 6.30-8.30pm at Waramanga Ovals. Contact Steve Rohan-Jones srj@o2c.com.au to express your interest.

Coaching Womens Football Forum

By Leo O’Keefe
 
On the evening of 24 November, Capital Football hosted a forum on “Coaching Female Athletes”.  A group of our dedicated WCSC Womens coaches (Donna, Andy, Steve and myself) attended along with about 50 other coaches from as far away as Newcastle.
 
The forum was presented by the USA Director of Coaching, April Heinrichs and the Canberra United Coach, Jitka Klimkova.
 
It began with observation of a training session of the Canberra United team, followed by a Q&A session.  It was fascinating watching the girls training and it is easy to see why they have been so successful.  But it was still interesting to see that even at this level there is still plenty to learn.
 
The forum concluded with April and Jitka giving presentations on training female players.  While much of what they said focused more on the elite side of the sport, they did point out some important aspects such as:

• the value in being positive;
• women are more detail oriented and so want to know “why”; and
• letting the players have breaks in training to chat.

The evening was most interesting and I am sure that all the attendees came away with something that they can use with their respective teams.

Name Change Update

After some great feedback from the last newsletter, a few themes have come out for preferred club name. Most replies have been supportive of a change from “Soccer Club” to “Football Club”, while there has been strong support for retaining “Weston” as part of the title.
 
A number of replies have also supported the strategy of making the Club’s name reflective of the new Molonglo region, which we aim to represent in coming years. Accordingly, initial signs are that “Weston Molonglo FC” could be popular. However, we have also recieved other suggestions such as “Stromlo FC/United” in recognition of the mountain that towers over Weston and Molonglo.
 
Keep the suggestions and feedback rolling to media@westoncreeksoccer.org.au. The Executive will take note of them in agreeing its proposal for a name change, which will be taken to the AGM in March 2012. We’d love to get as broad support as possible for the eventual decision.

Women's Premier League Update

The club has received some interest in the coaching positions and will be meeting with all parties in early December. We would still like to hear from anyone with an interest in helping out with this flagship competition we are involved with (email president@westoncreeksoccer.org.au).

Get Involved with the Club

The annual Weston Creek Soccer Club AGM is planned for March 2012. While all positions will be up for election, the Club is particularly looking for anyone with an interest in helping out as Treasurer or Women's Chair. Both positions will be well-supported by other executive members and the current Treasurer is now available to help train up a replacement.

More broadly, we are always looking for anyone with an interest in volunteering. If you would like more information about the above positions or any other opportunities to help out, please email the President (Chris Brown) at president@westoncreeksoccer.org.au.

Caption Competition

Club Coaching Coordinator and kit procurement maestro Richard Jalland was one of the many Masters players honing his handicap on their end of season trip.

This photo captures the drama of the moment perfectly - can you think of a caption? Winning/amusing entries will be printed in the next edition. Mail your entry to media@westoncreeksoccer.org.au.





If you have any stories for the November edition of the Weston Creek Soccer Club newsletter, please contact the editor at media@westoncreeksoccer.org.au. We'd love to hear from you!