President's message

Welcome to 2012! What an exciting start to the year for football locally, with Canberra United leading the way into the Grand Final and beating Brisbane by one goal. I was lucky to attend and it was very exciting. Maybe that will bode well for Canberra securing it’s own A-League team in the near future?
 
I have visited the fields twice in the last week to check out the men and women who have started training and the Sunday with Jack training session that was run by club legend Jack Kynaston. It’s great to see the fields looking so green with the season fast approaching.

The FFA Myfootballclub will be soon open registration and renewal and our Registration Day is close. We have reviewed budgets have set the fees for 2012 – more below.
 
I look forward to your involvement and enjoyment for another exciting year.

Chris Brown (President)

Seniors pre-season training commences

Trials and training for Weston Creek Women's Premier League and Men's State League teams have commenced. All Men's State League players are welcome to attend until their individual team training commences, to participate in the drills and utilise free field space. Separate women's State League training is expected to start in early February, as their preseason competition starts on 18 March. Team members should check with their managers from last year for details.

What: Weston Creek WPL preseason

Where: Waramanga Playing Field No 108 (next to Arawang Primary School carpark)

When: 6:30-8:00PM, twice a week Tuesdays and Thursdays, commenced Tuesday 17 January 2012 through Thursday 15th March.

What: Weston Creek men’s preseason

Where: Waramanga Playing Field No 107 (nearer to Stromlo High School)

When: 6:30-8:00PM, twice a week Tuesdays and Thursdays, commenced Tuesday 24 January 2012 through Thursday 15th March.

Juniors calendar of important events

The following key dates have been confirmed for juniors:

1 Feb - Online registration opens
18 Feb - Rooball/junior information day at Cooleman Court (10:00-2:00PM)
25 Feb - Junior gradings begin, through to 11th March (timetable to be advised)
17 Mar Rooball organisation day at Waramanga (afternoon - details to be advised)
19 Mar - 1 April - All grounds closed
2 Apr - Coaches/managers meeting (7:00-8:30PM)
14 Apr - Grassroots coaching sessions at Waramanga (9:00AM-12:00PM)
23-27 Apr - Gear handout at Gavin Place, Chapman
5 May - First round of fixtures for Junior League competition
20 May - Grassroots coaching sessions at Waramanga (1:00-4:00PM)
8 Sep - Last round of fixtures for Junior League competition
15 September - Junior Presentation Day

Players and families should check the Weston Creek website, Facebook page and Twitter feed for more details as they become available. If there are any questions, please contact Richard Jalland at coaching_coordinator@westoncreeksoccer.org.au.

Club registration fees now set

After reviewing budgets, and the planned increases by Capital Football and Territory and Municipal Services (TAMS – who charge us ground hire for training and games), we have had to make the following adjustments:

• Fees for the junior league have remained unchanged for 2012 (U5-U9 Small Sided Football $110, U-10-U13 Junior League $160, U14-U18 Junior League $170)
• Junior Women have increased by $5 to $285
• Senior Women and Men have increased by $10 (Women $350, Men $370)

These are all well below three per cent increases and the club has ensured that they are much lower than the increases passed on by Capital Football and TAMS. Those two organisations recoup 75 per cent of the fees, with referees and equipment taking up much of the balance. As a sport, it’s still relatively good value if examined on a per hour basis, with the highest fee representing around $7.50 per hour if averaged over the year (assuming 20 games and training time). We hope that club members are happy with these fee levels and understand the reasons behind them.

Weston Creek Facebook and Twitter accounts now live

Thanks to Annette Shaw, Weston Creek has now taken a leap into even more multimedia platforms. We've got a Facebook and Twitter account where all the latest news and important dates will be posted. Be sure to like/subscribe to them so you don't have to wait till the newsletter for the important stuff!

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Weston-Creek-Soccer-Club/164308203674784
Twitter: @wcsc2

ADFA and Belconnen United Soccer 7's tournament for juniors

Juniors coaches may wish to enter teams in the above tournament as part of their preseason preparations.
 
The tournament age groups will be as follows:

• Sat 17 Mar - Under 8’s & 10’s boys and girls
• Sun 18 Mar - Under 12’s & 14’s boys and girls

Entries limited to 10 Teams per age group for boys and girls, cost is $200 per team.
 
See Capital Football Website for full details and entry forms or contact Spud: 0488265587 / paul.magill@defence.gov.au.

Weston Creek winners for Canberra United jersey

At McKellar Park on 7th January, when Canberra United beat Adelaide 5-0 to sweep into the finals, the program for the day had a competition to win a training jersey signed by Sally Shipard, one of United’s awesome midfielders. Tom Brown, who played for Weston Creek for six years and still referees with the club, as well as playing Kanga Cup with his old team mates in 2011, thought it would be something his mate Annalise Hedditch would like, as she’s a mad keen footballer and United fan.

Tom and Annie played on the same team together as roo-ballers in 2005 and again last year in the Kanga 2011 U13 WC team. Tom ended up as the winner of the competition and secured the jersey for Annie, who was thrilled. On Sunday, after they won the grand-final, we managed to grab Sally for a photo with Tom and Annie. Great work guys, and Annie, we hope it’s going straight to the “pool room” as Daryl would have said in The Castle.

Club Sponsorship Prospectus 2012 now available

Weston Creek has now finalised its Sponsorship Prospectus for 2012, outlining all the possible ways to become a sponsor. We're proud of the range of packages available. They should cater for every need and allow many of our senior teams to acquire great new equipment while giving back to the club.

It is available here. We are particularly aiming to fill all of the sponsorship logo spots for the Women's Premier League squads, so we can get the girls a brand new set of jerseys for the new season. So if your business or organisation is in a position to help, or you know someone who is, please get in touch with us! We rely on club members to use their personal contacts for sourcing sponsors - every bit counts.

Rebel Sport purchases to assist Weston Creek

Weston Creek has been selected to participate in the Rebel Support Your Sport Program. Under this program, the club can earn 5 per cent of your purchases at Rebel Sport as instore credit to spend on our sports program.

All you need to do is join Season Pass, select Weston Creek from the list of participating groups and swipe your loyalty card every time you make a purchase at Rebel Sport. You’ll receive access to great member prices and other initiatives and the club will receive a 5% credit.

Thanks for your support.

Club name change and constitutional reform update

Thanks for your continued feedback on the potential club name change. So far strong support seems to be coalescing around the "Weston-Molonglo FC" name to keep our tradition while servicing the new suburbs being built around our traditional catchment. Keep the feedback flowing to media@westoncreeksoccer.org.au. We'll let you know in the next newsletter what name the Executive will be suggesting to the AGM, and any other constitutional amendments that will be proposed for March.

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.

We are also looking for someone to coordinate volunteers for Yellow Pages drops in April. This has the potential to raise some money for the club and simply requires someone to roster interested members for delivery days. If you would like to help, contact Andrew Pearson on andrew.pearson2@gmail.com.

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.


If you have any stories or announcements for the Weston Creek Soccer Club newsletter, please contact the editor at media@westoncreeksoccer.org.au. Be sure to send in any great action shots of WCSC players on field or off as well. We'll definitely put them to print, particularly in the category of 'most unusual places to see a WCSC jersey'. We'd love to hear from you!