SANDRINGHAM FOOTBALL CLUB

Dear Members, Partners and Supporters,

As our 2021 VFL & VFLW campaigns come to an end, I would like to thank you for your ongoing support throughout the season.

There is no doubt it has been a challenging year for all of us in an environment of uncertainty. There are a number of positives to reflect upon and many reasons to look forward to season 2022.

2021 Highlights

Our VFLW team completed a full home & away season to finish 6th and be part of the 2021 finals series. They beat Port Melbourne in week 1 of finals and then went down to Geelong by only 7 points in week 2. They had such a fantastic year led by Head Coach Dale Robinson, who has committed to the role again in 2022. We should be extremely proud of our girls who have brought an energy and high standard of values to our club – we look forward to what season 2022 may bring. 

Our VFL team, brilliantly led by Head Coach Jake Batchelor, performed admirably this season just missing out on a final 8 position with 4 wins from 9 games played. Unfortunately the home & away season was cut short as our team was looking to finish the season strongly on a winning note. Our players and coaches have created an environment of high performance and are looking forward to pushing for a finals position in 2022. 

We have appointed Marissa Stathopoulos (Function Manager) and Courtney Banks (Operations Manager) to our full-time staff to provide the expertise and resources to continue to improve our football club. Marissa has great AFL experience in events & marketing and brings an energy and aspiration to grow our Sandy by the Bay events and operations. Most would remember Courtney, who has been part of our football club off-field team previously. We welcome Courtney back who will look after all of our off-field operations from Sponsorship and marketing to membership and game day. I am really excited by our off-field team to drive our high standards and provide a strong foundation to launch our 2022 campaign.

Some other key highlights include:

• Completing our new Electronic Scoreboard which has been in use throughout the 2021 Season.
• Purchasing our new on-site Food Trailer which has been in use throughout our 2021 Season.
• Purchasing a new Property Van to assist with our VFL & VFLW Football Programs.
• Engaging with an Architect and Builders to design plans and provide costings for new change rooms, football operations, office space and coaches boxes. These plans are almost complete which will assist in continued discussions with Council, Government and the AFL to provide the funding required. There are also discussions with Council on plans for increased lighting at our venue to cater for greater demand of our men’s and women’s programs. We are well placed to push forward with sharp discussions with key stakeholders to achieve our financial outcomes. 

2021/2022 Planning

We should have information from the AFL over the next few weeks confirming that the 2022 VFLW season will commence sometime in January 2022, meaning their pre-season training campaign will commence sometime in October.

We launched our Online Auction last Sunday 22 August which will run for two weeks. We have some great items on offer – make sure you visit the website for some great opportunities.

Our Partners get together for Friday 27 August has again been postponed. We will be ensuring, when restrictions are lifted, to hold this and many other events leading into the festive season. Stay tuned for further updates over the coming weeks.

We will be extending our Restaurant service with the ASAT boys to a Wednesday night. As soon as we exit lockdown the Wednesday nights will commence. Scott and Luke do a fantastic job as the quality of their food is always high level – as always we appreciate your support and that of your family and friends.

I would also like to thank the great work of our Executive Team, led brilliantly by our CEO Marcus Ashcroft. In a challenging environment over the last 2 years Marcus has always maintained a positive outlook and has been innovative and creative in ensuring our club has not only survived but thrived in these times. A special mention also to our Football & Recruitment Manager Josh Vella, who has again grown enormously in his role and we look forward to seeing his growth and advancement in his role at the Zebras in the coming years.  

Finally, I would also like to thank the great work of all our Board over the last 12 months, we have worked cohesively and enthusiastically towards making the Sandringham Football Club the best place it can be in our community and will continue to work towards an outstanding 2022.

As you can see, there is much to be proud of and even more to be excited about for season 2022. Led magnificently by our two coaches in Dale & Jake, we have a solid foundation and an environment that has great energy, aspiration, motivation and expectation for the future. I look forward with a high level of optimism and expectation.

To all our volunteers, players, members, supporters, sponsors and the whole Sandringham Football Club community, THANK YOU - none of your efforts go unnoticed.

GO ZEBS

Take care,

Nick Johnstone
President - Sandringham Football Club