DOLPHIN TALK Presidents Message April, 2018

Transcription

1 DOLPHIN TALK Presidents Message April, 2018 With 2 games under our belt we are now clearly into the 2018 VFL Season. It feels good! The first two weeks have been fantastic for the Club and our team and we are in a good position to look forward to the next few months of football and club life. CLUB GOVERNANCE As you know the main purpose of the Club Board is to provide good governance and financial control. During the years this is particularly important as we are still under a Deed of Company Arrangement (DOCA) where we pay back agreed debts to creditors over a four year period. Our Treasurer Wayne Lock reminds us that our obligations to those payments is our highest priority as defaulting or being late on scheduled payments can affect our solvency and VFL Licence. So, we are proud to say that with your financial support we have made the first of two DOCA payments for The second payment due in September. The Board would like to thank everyone who supports the club right through from sponsors, members, people who support our club events and fundraising and even to those who buy a pie at the football. Every dollar counts! On a sadder note we pay our respects to Brian Collis, one of our mentors, who passed away recently. Our thoughts go out to his wife Margaret and family as they get through a difficult time. I d like to share the words of a couple of his friends whom had this to say about Brian. Brian was a well respected life member of the AFL, also prominent in the racing industry and Tennis Australian. The thing I remember most about Brian was his absolute honesty in trying to do the right thing, for the right reason, in every circumstance. He was also very generous in helping people, at no cost, if he believed in their cause. He will be sadly missed. - Ian Dicker Brian Stick Collis was a very generous soul, first met him playing Saturday tennis, the #1 member in our team well known for his powerful flat first serve. We needed some legal expertise in the VFA tribunal and invited Stick to chair around 1982 which he did for several years, before being seconded to the AFL where this loveable rogue served with great distinction, vale Brian and thank you for your unstinting service. - Alan Wickes COMMERCIAL PLATFORMS As we head into the year we are delighted with the progress made by Yvette Barnes and the function centre staff. Functions By The Bay is fast becoming a hive of conference, sports events, parties, member s nights, celebrations and club dinners. I encourage anyone who is planning an event to contact Yvette and have a look at this fantastic facility.

2 Call Yvette on or The function centre will hold some Dolphins In Business (DIB) breakfasts this year and the first of these is coming up soon. Thanks to the work of Stuart Dalton we are pleased to announce that our first business speaker is NAB Senior Economist David de Garis who will be speaking at the Dolphins in Business breakfast to be held on May 22 nd at 7:00am in Functions By The Bay. It is a must for anyone interested in business, finance, networking and sharing opportunities (and maybe we can ask him for some tips on who will win the footy as well!) Tickets are now on sale on-line at or contact Tina/Yvette on to book your seat. From a sponsor perspective we continue to thank all our sponsor partners for their involvement in our club. As our relationship matures we are seeing more opportunities to work together and create better futures for all and our cub thanks go to Gary Buckenara and Michelle Graham for leading the way in enlisting and engaging our sponsors. Sponsor Spotlight this month falls on Richard Wraith and Michael Crowder from Nichols Crowder. Q) Richard and Michael - let us in on why you are with the Frankston Football Club in A) As the Mornington Peninsula s leading commercial/industrial real estate agency we have a burning desire to support the Peninsulas largest football club. Nichols Crowder brings together generations of real estate experience and we know what it is like to grow and develop. We now want to support the Dolphins as they grow, develop and realise their magnificent future. At Nichols Crowder we love the variety of people we deal with on a day to day basis catering for all manner of clients. We represent vendors, purchasers, landlords and tenants by providing sales, leasing and property management services and with offices in Carrum Downs, Mornington and Moorabbin we have the South East covered. Frankston Football Club has a similar footprint and a huge range and variety of members and supporters and we are proud to be able to offer our services to them. On behalf of the Frankston Football Club I welcome Richard, Michael and their team to the Frankston Football Club Dolphin family for 2018 and beyond and encourage all our members to utilise their services.

3 Sponsor Partnership a grand from the Grand! Hop in quick and grab yourself a meal and drink at the Grand Hotel help the Dolphins receive up to $1000! Venue Managers Pauline and Donna from the Grand Hotel Frankston have given Dolphin fans the opportunity to MRC support one of Frankston s iconic hotel venues and our Club at the same time. By placing your food and/or beverage receipt in the Frankston Football Club fundraising box each time you dine at The Grand between 1 April and 30 June, you could help us receive $1000 from the MRC Foundation which supports local clubs, charities and not for profits. The Grand Hotel is a complete entertainment complex which boasts a sports bar & TAB, a function room, and a family bistro. The bistro offers specialty nights with a wide range of meals for everyone to enjoy. Also, don t forget you can become a Pegasus Rewards Member it s free and you can receive selected menu offers plus a lot more benefits. The Grand Hotel, 499 Nepean Hwy, Frankston Bookings or Enquiries Phone: FOOTBALL TEAMS Wasn t it great to witness our first game back. Here are some excerpts from Paul Amy s match reports. Round 1: Back in Black but over-run by the Dons Back in black; the AC/DC song rang out loud and clear through the ground PA system to announce the return of the Dolphins. It had been more than 18 months since Frankston Dolphins last appearance in the VFL and the newly named SkyBus Stadium had a buzz to it as a crowd of about 3000 turned up to watch the comeback club take on Essendon on Saturday. And when the Dolphins got the first goal of the match, through a Nathan Gardiner snap, a feel-good story of Victorian football got a little better. Frankston gained the second goal of the match too. And its enthusiasm was apparent when three players tackled one Bomber in the Essendon forward line. Pretty soon the bongos were banging on the Frankston hill, makeshift music to the ears on a gloriously sunny day. The Dolphins were having some good moments they won the second quarter as their small forward line pressured the Bombers into mistakes and had some very good contributors. Kyle Gray was outstanding as a key defender, ruckman Lewis Pierce, going it alone against formidable opposition, never flagged, onballer Alex Hartnett showed power and poise in the first half, and Jack McHale lived up to Skrobalak s assessment of him as a rising player. The Dolphins were in the game until half time but then Essendon s advantage in height and class started to tell and in the second half the young Dolphins fell away rather badly. But the result was no great surprise. Frankston has returned to the state league with a young list and it s going to take time for Adam Skrobalak s team to find its bearings. Experience cannot be bought at the corner shop.

4 Set aside the scoreboard. The greater story was the Frankston Football Club had returned stronger than when it fell in Testament to the support for the Dolphins was that Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews attended the first game sold-out lunch and announced funding of $650,000 to upgrade the lights and another $50,000 for new interchange boxes. 100 new members signed up taking the total number to almost 1000 and a lot of club apparel were sold meaning the black, red & white army was starting to make its mark. Round 1 Best Players: J. McHale, S. Masterson, L. Pierce, M. La Fontaine, W. Fordham, A. Harnett Round 2 - Dolphins take it up to Hawks BE patient: that s the message from Frankston Dolphins coach Adam Skrobalak after his side lost to Box Hill Hawks by 39 points at SkyBus Stadium on Saturday. Frankston is only a couple of weeks into its comeback and it has already shown marked improvement; after losing by a large margin in Round 1, the Dolphins were in a winning position late in the game against the Hawks. Frankston led by a goal at half time and was within a couple of kicks of the lead at the 17-minute mark of the third quarter, even though the Hawks had the wind. Skrobalak says his young Dolphins are on the right track. To take it up to an opposition like that and be in an almost winning position towards the end of the third quarter is huge for our guys. They are young and inexperienced and it s about development. The education we ll get out of that, like how to use the ball against the wind, how to use the ball with the wind (is invaluable). The way the guys have improved from week to week is a real credit to how hard they re working. Corey Rich was a standout for Frankston, kicking two goals after playing up forward and around the ball. Teenager Jack McHale again impressed, as did ex-sandy Dragon Alfie Jarnestrom, while former Collingwood-listed Mitch McCarthy, on debut, did a good job up forward and in the ruck. Skrobalak said Frankston fans expecting wins should temper expectations. The club was looking for development and the byproduct of that will be results. This week the Dolphins face North Melbourne, away, on Saturday and we invite all loyal supporters to make the trek to Werribee for the 2 pm start. OUR FACILITIES Exciting news around our ground as next week we will unveil the installation of the upstairs kitchen in Functions By The Bay that will service the Graham Room. In a sign of confidence in our future the club has invested money in finishing the work started many years ago by the Board and Management teams on who first had the vision of us having a first class venue facility to help this club stand out as the hub of football and community on the Peninsula. Thanks to Tina, Bucky, Yvette and Peter Barr for getting this project over the line.

5 And if that s not enough you will see a flurry of works over the next few weeks as we upgrade our canteen ready for the next home game on May 5 th. Like the function centre the canteen is proving itself to be a revenue generator and a great asset to the match day experience. The upgrade will provide fryers and cook tops to ensure that your food is coming to you straight from the hotplate and having the cooking facility on site in the canteen reduces the need to carry food from the function centre and so it also improves the safety of our casual staff and volunteers. MEMBERSHIP DRIVE With Dipper leading the way we are upbeat about membership and we have now hit the 1000-member mark. Member leaders Tina and David Friend as well as our volunteer leaders Sarah & Jan would like to say a big thanks to all those who have joined. But in achieving one goal we now set the challenge for the next goal. We are now setting the target at 1500 members and so we will need everyone to help the club achieve this ambitious goal. Our records show that we have about 400 members from last year who have yet to rejoin and we appeal to them to sign up now and become part of the biggest football family on the Peninsula. And existing members should reach out to sign up their friends and family. You are doing them a favour by getting them involved as all members gain all the benefits of our Dolphin rewards program which will save them hundreds of $$ in discounts on a huge range of good and services. It has also been great to see that our member army is starting to be seen in the colours of the club. The range of caps, scarves, jackets etc. is high quality merchandise and now we are also starting to offer club jumpers available to be purchased for the first time in our 52-year Dolphin history! You can purchase merchandise either online or at our outlet at home games and remember that if you are a member you gain 10% off all merchandise and bar purchases. One of the good signs in our emergence of a member s culture is the visibility of our Past Players & Officials. Leading from the front is PP&O president Daniel Norm Clarke who is now on a mission to sign up 200 past players and get them down to the past players and officials day to be held soon. So, if you are a past player or official get in early and go on line to sign up now otherwise Norm and his team will be knocking on your door. We had our time now let s support the new generation of Dolphins.

6 I d also like to mention Sarah, Jan and the growing band of volunteers. VFL Football clubs cannot exist without volunteers and we now have a small and loyal band that we are hoping will flourish and grow over the next few weeks. Our next home game is May 5 th so if you would like to volunteer to help in any way then please contact Tina on or her tina@frankstonfc.com.au COMMUNITY We are delighted to say that our community program has kicked off very well and our first two games have seen us host two of our community partners. At our first home game we hosted Susan Alberti as we raised funds for St Vincent s Institute Type 1 Diabetes research. In our second game we hosted Ian Dicker and the Barbara Dicker Brain Research Foundation as they search for knowledge and cures for all sorts of Brain related conditions. Many thanks to the people who support these foundations who, by attending the Presidents Lunch before each home game, help raise much needed funds. $500 from the lunch is presented to the Community Partner that we host on the day. Also thanks to our Captain Blake Mullane and Kevin Lylak and the many people who dropped in to help and support our handball stand as part of the Bayside Centre Youth week held at the rooftop carpark at Bayside. Thanks to Kate from Bayside for organising our participation. Lastly let me say Go Dolphins and remind everyone to get to our next home game vs Northern Blues at SkyBus Stadium on May 5 th for a 2pm start. Peter Geddes Club President