PRESIDENT’S REPORT 2019
Running a football club and getting teams onto the field each week is no small task. A task that is made possible by parents coming together and helping week in, week out. While the committee is there behind the scenes managing the operation, each and every one of us plays our part!
Westbrook prides itself on offering a club that is welcoming to all. We believe that participation and fairness is equal to results and we aim to be the club of choice in our region. Thank you to all the Coaches, Managers and support staff for the commitment you made this season. To all of the parents and carers — thank you for the time you spend getting the players to and from training and games each week. To our volunteers and helpers — thank you for the time commitment each week, especially at home games. Without your support we are unable to run such a smooth and successful operation.
The 2019 season saw Westbrook and our Alliance nominate a record 22 teams across U8s, Junior and Youth Football. We also achieved a record of around 310 player registrations between Auskick and Juniors/Youth this season. Growth among our intake group and broader age groups sets the club up well going into the coming season/s.
Girls Auskick
Westbrook also hosted a mid-week ‘Girls Only’ Auskick program in conjunction with AFL Sydney. The program was the first of its kind for our area and ran for 8 weeks on a Tuesday afternoon. Each Tuesday there was upwards of 20 girls learning the basics and making new friends along the way. If the disappointment at the program’s ending is anything to go by, we should have plenty of new registrations from this group. My thanks to Mark, Chloe and Laura from the AFL for their efforts in organising and running this program.
Measures of Success
We pride ourselves as a club on retention and loyalty. This season we boast a growing number of players achieving personal milestones: 2 players reaching 150 games; 10 reaching 100; 14 reaching 50 and a further 7 have reached 10 years’ service. We have enhanced our player experience by having 69% of our competition teams play in finals, with 30% making the Grand Final across a range of divisions. We also encourage players to extend themselves by participating in representative football and seeking selection in the various Academies while still enjoying the mateship of club football. It is through this environment that we have nurtured recent players to excel at the highest level and at the same time allowed enjoyment for our broader playing group.
Mike Kenny Oval
The #upgradegreenway Federal Government grant has been partially completed. The top oval was resurfaced but will still need a little more work over the off-season to complete the drainage. The new facility is waiting for DA approval from council and is expected to be ready for the start of the 2020 season — fingers crossed. This will be a fantastic facility for our club and the local community for many years to come.
Off the field
This year we welcomed DreamBuild as our new major sponsor to the club. A huge thank you to Steve and Pieta for their generosity. We look forward to welcoming you back in 2020. We would like to thank all of our sponsors for your ongoing support and contribution.
Because of the uncertainty of the ground re-development, we were unable to run our Pink Ribbon Mother’s Day round in 2019, but rest assured we plan on being back for that Saturday evening in 2020!
Alliances
Our Alliance teams in Youth football remained strong in 2019. Northern Lights (Westbrook & Hornsby-Berowra) and North West Lightning (Westbrook, Hornsby-Berowra, Pennant Hills). In the U17 boys we also had Pennant Hills and North Ryde join us. My thanks to Paul Stafford (Hornsby-Berowra), Steve Protogeros (Pennant Hills) and Doug Whiteford (North Ryde) for the support and commitment to the Alliances this year.
Towards 2020
We say goodbye to a couple of families who have given many years of service to Westbrook. To the Sparks and Vink families: we acknowledge all that you have offered to Westbrook over the years. The legacy that you leave will stand strong for many years to come. On behalf of the club and from me personally — thank you for your contributions, they are truly appreciated.
This departure and change presents new opportunities for other families to step up and pitch in. There are roles on the committee to be filled along with game-day ground management support among other things. If this is something that you can offer, the club will be better off with your support.
We will continue to reinvest funds into Canteen Management, Ground Management, Administration & Volunteer Management to allow our key personnel to spend their valuable time on strategy and seeing their own kids play a little more often.
To the committee members: thank you for your support and dedication in getting us through another successful year! And finally, to our 2019 major club award winners and life members: a very big thank you to each of you for your tireless contributions. The club as a whole thanks you for all that you have done!
Mark Lean-Fore
President