All,
I am writing to wish everyone in the SKOB community a Merry Christmas. I also write to update you all on a few things.
2018 was certainly a great year for the Club. Huge levels of participation, many teams in finals, a few Premierships and a player drafted!
Special congratulations to Tom Jok on his achievement in being “rookied” by Essendon. It is a tremendous credit to Tom, his character, perseverance and resilience that he achieved the next step in what will hopefully be a long and successful AFL career with Essendon. Tom can reasonably be described as a “favourite son” such is his popularity with everyone at SKOB. Good luck Tom. Congratulations also to the two other SKC Year 12 boys drafted: Rhylee West (Western Bulldogs) and James Rowbottom (Sydney).
In regard to the Football Department – Michael Christian reports as follows:
Guy Martyn will lead SKOB as Senior Coach in 2019 in pursuit of a third consecutive Premier Division premiership. He will be ably assisted by Dan Currie, David Calthorpe and our latest recruit, former GWS defensive coach, Nick Walsh. The Club will again focus on the development of our young players from St Kevin’s College which proved hugely successful in 2018. We have also worked hard to find a replacement for the retiring Jay Schulz and Steve Gilham and I’m pleased to announce that former Carlton and North Melbourne star Jarrod Waite will play with SKOB in 2019. I’m also delighted to announce that our 2015 Premiership player and Best & Fairest, Phil Edgar will return from overseas and play next year.
I would like to take the opportunity to congratulate two time SKOB premiership player, Tom Jok who has been drafted by AFL club Essendon. This is a reward for some very hard work and I feel very proud that a SKOB player has been drafted to the highest level. I’m sure he won’t be last from our Club to be drafted.
I would also like to sincerely thank Tom Williams, our Coach in 2018 and Senior Assistant Coach in 2017. He had a profound impact on our Club and we wish him all the best on his move back home to Queensland.
Our Reserves team will again be led by James Kennedy who will be ably assisted by Will Browne.
The premiership winning Thirds team will be captain-coached by Paul Di Natale in 2019. Paul has been a stalwart of our Club and we’re excited that he will take the reins next year.
In a major development the VAFA, after much urging, have created an U23 competition for 2019. SKOB will be a foundation member and enter a team. This is a significant positive for our Club because we won’t have two teams competing in the same competition.
We are pleased to announce that Tom Purcell will continue his role as Senior Coach in 2019 with the SKOB Saints. Robin Bowles and Kim Ledder will again assist with the Premier Saints. The Premier Reserves team will be Co-Coached by Chris Morley, Karen Nistchke and David Jones.
It’s also with great pleasure that I announce that Hartley Stone returns to the Club as the U19 Premier Coach. The U19 Premier Reserves Coach will again be Phil McCabe and the U19 Thirds will be Co-Coached by James Goller and Harry Long. We are again fortunate to have Tony Phillips oversee and coordinate the entire U19 program.
After a premiership in 2018, our Masters team will again take the field in 2019. Pre season will start at some stage!
Finally, after the final week of 2018 training, the players will return to training on 22 January. Training at SKC Tooronga sports field.
Grounds: We have been working closely with Stonnington Council on our requirements for 2019. Our great relationship with Stonnington on a range of different levels (Youth Mentor Programme, facilities, community engagement etc) means that we are working with them constructively to find optimal solutions on a range of matters. Stay tuned for the outcomes.
The new committee has started work on the 2019 season. We are working on a range of initiatives.
Also, an initiative that we have formally launched. To be known as Strategy 2030 it will, as the name implies, focus on delivering some strategic objectives across a range of areas.
The objectives of the committee are to set management strategies that allow us to achieve our strategic objective (paraphrased from last Strategy review) of being:
A community football club that fosters a friendly, constructive and inclusive environment for the personal development of players, partners and family, which also provides opportunities to assist the wider community. These aspirations being facilitated by ongoing on field success.
Key areas of focus are:
Grounds: playing and training
Finance (Operational / recurring income; Establishing an Investment fund as a base for long term income & Grants)
Membership – how to grow it?
Community (partnerships): SKC; Old Collegians. Community input: Youth Mentor Programme. Is this the only way we can demonstrate our bona fides as a responsible community member?
Volunteers and paid employees: Determining the optimum balance given cost of payments and availability of volunteers; How to attract more volunteers?
Player Support Programme: optimum structure?
Tim Corrigan and Paul Murphy have been considering all this for some time. Accordingly, they will co Chair the sub committee. They will seek feedback from relevant members of the SKOB community. Their work will likely include some surveys. It will commence in 2019.
Please give the initiative your support if / when called upon.
Another initiative we will be commencing in 2019 is a SKOB Wine Club. In partnership with Treasury Wine Estates we will be creating the SKOB Online Wine Club with great opportunities to buy some of the best wines at competitive prices. Stay tuned for the launch.
Also, a final thank you to all our sponsors in 2018 and those who have already committed to 2019. Without their sponsorship we would not have been able to run some of our community programs and make a difference to some less fortunate members of society. To remind you, sponsorship is in part allocated to the Player Support Program. The Player Support Program (the players) are responsible for game day support of some less fortunate young people we have included in the club. These people (school age students) participate in the SKOB Youth Mentor Program (YMP). Our players role is to mentor these young people to try to assist them (to develop their strengths and work on their weaknesses) particularly in their education outcomes. The program has continued to grow in 2018 and we are committed to further enhancements and growth in 2019. Anyone who would like to support the YMP should reach out to Michael Doble.
SAVE SOME DATES 2019! … Game Day lunches in 2019 will be as follows:
Round 1. Collegians April 6 – unfurling the flag! A special SKOB guest will unfurl the flag. Stay tuned.
Round 5. Uni Blues May 11 – Mothers Day (eve) / Ladies Lunch. Susan Alberti is our very special guest speaker. This promises to be one of the great lunches of the year with a pioneer of women’s football and one of the great people / speakers / Melbournians.
Round 7. St Bernards May 25. Indigenous Round.
Round 10. Trinity June 22. Foundation Day.
Round 12. Old Xavs July 27.
Round 14. DLS August 3.
Finally, if you are looking for some Christmas cheer – all SKOBers are welcome to join the players at their Christmas BBQ on Saturday 22 December at Barkly Gardens, Mary St Richmond from 1pm.
Merry Christmas.
