2009 a season to remember

Just like to take the opportunity to thank everyone for making 2009 such a cracker. It has been fun. Pure and Simple.

In three years we have taken the game from 20 or so people having a casual kick to approx 200 members. It wouldn't be possible without your contribution. So cheers.

2009 saw us develop the women's game, confirm the popularity of the juniors and the potential to expand into youth football. We had five outdoor teams, ten futsal teams, a four team women's futsal competition, women's representative team, and most importantly 130 juniors participating in small sided games. For the first time the international st patricks day extravaganza involved - god forbid - a footy team. There was even a beach football game with Jimeoin. 

Yep 2009 was supposed to be a year of consolidation and we still ended up with three nominations in the broome sports awards!

We didn't host Derby, or an indoor world cup, as we have done in the past. We simply didn't have the capacity to run them. They could be resurrected in 2010. With the world cup set to play out again it is already looking like a big year. How big will depend on who is willing to jump on our bandwagon and lend a hand. 

In 2010 Football Australia will bring their cottees five a side program to the schools as part of our promotion. More links with the school will provide greater opportunity to promote our sport.

With many children moving into the youth age groups there is great potential to expand our junior programs. This expansion could also be developed into communities such as Bidyadanga and Lombadina. Both communities showed an interest in working with us already this year. Again we didn't have the capacity to run with it. Football Australia's Indigenous football festival is the perfect incentive to encourage communities to get involved. Having a girl and boy representative in the WA team would be a great thing for this region.

The girls in particular could benefit from the expansion of our women's competition. Already the amount of enthusiasm for developing a stand alone competition will ensure a women's coordinator will be included on the committee next year. The fact our game can be played by both sexes is a huge strength and the potential to give the game to the regions girls and women is enormous. There are very few team sports for women in this region and with a Perth Glory women's team newly established our local girls can have something to dream of. Why not?

There has also been interest from the Big Issue's homeless soccer program. They are keen to work with our association to provide opportunities for marginalised groups. There is a program in Port Hedland about to start and indeed greater links with our southern neighbour has already been talked about this year. In 2010 if Port Hedland were included in our representative games we would be on our way to a north west championships.

Yep 2010 is shaping up to be a big year. Our fourth since we resurrected the association. In these short few years i have personally been amazed at what can be achieved when good people work together for a common cause. Along the way there has been some great friendships established, plenty of memorable social events, and a couple of kids from cable beach primary school with my autograph on their school bag! By providing opportunities for our children to participate we inadvertently become role models. Personally i have found great satisfaction in this. It inspires me to want to develop our association so that it continues to bring all ages and walks of life together in the name of football.

We are all part of this association together. Together we can take our game wherever we want. It's just a matter of us all making a contribution where we can. So have a think about what you might be able to do to keep us moving forward. What can you do to ensure we continue to enjoy ourselves?

Watching 2009 unfold in such a fantastic way has been unbelievably rewarding. We've had some fun. I look forward to 2010 and working to ensure those experiences can be enhanced and new friendships developed. This is after all what it is all about. 

Thanks again for 2009. Happy holidays and see you indoors in February.