WEEKENDS GAMES CANCELLED BY FV
FV have cancelled all matches for the foreseeable future, due to the latest Covid-19 lockdown orders from the State Government. Accordingly all GSC activities remain cancelled until further notice.
https://www.footballvictoria.com.au/news/immediate-cancellation-regional-football-activities?fbclid=IwAR1JFFPkWNpERWHkj71T4zuV43FpTrcHyM0mwfFvOJAOqHYHwLY8a1ASvdI
This news article appears in the Star Weekly.
Thank you to Sunbury United FC for welcoming us to Langama Park so our metro based players could train, while our regional based players were on the other side of "the ring of steel" training at Dixon.
A beautiful gesture to ensure we can all continue to enjoy the beautiful game during challenging times.
I think it’s always better to have a positive outlook during challenging times, and as much as we’re all wishing for the end of this latest COVID lockdown, it has at least given us a chance to refresh and reflect on how the season has panned out so far. Unfortunately, this football pause has come at a time when momentum was swinging in our favour, but having worked so hard to acquire it once, we know we can recapture it again.
Looking back on our first nine rounds of the Men’s State League 4 West competition, having started off tentatively, I feel as if we’ve grown into more of a reliable rhythm in the way we play, but importantly we’ve strengthened our mental fortitude too. Belief is a very powerful tool and it’s something we’ve spoken about a lot. How to find it, build it and use it.
Even before the season kicked off, there were a few practice games in particular against higher placed opposition where we saw indicators of what we could be capable of. Results in those games are meaningless, but the performance levels perhaps helped to sow the seeds of self-confidence and character.
Our opening day loss against Barnestoneworth in Round 1 followed by the 1-1 draw with Melbourne University in Round 2 – both very good sides – were sobering in some respects as they opened our eyes to the challenge ahead. Whilst I didn’t feel we were outplayed, there were obvious opportunities for learning and like any setback, it presented us with a chance to improve.
The long Round 3 away trip to Surf Coast became a match with added importance to give ourselves the spark we needed, and in many ways that’s exactly how it panned out. The manner of the victory rather than the points themselves (which we happily took!) combined with some strong individual performances and the general grit and tenacity shown really ignited our season from that point.
The following three rounds saw us go undefeated with a 2-2 draw away at Melbourne City sandwiched between solid home wins against Spring Hills and North Melbourne Athletic. It was the tangible sense of disappointment in the dressing rooms after the City stalemate that gave further rise to the feeling that our desire and craving for more was building.
Then came the Round 7 loss away to league leaders Laverton Park where, if anything, there were ‘non-football’ barriers which proved the most difficult to overcome which resulted in a missed opportunity. It was a result that stuck in the back of my throat and one which brought a lot of reflection as I considered our merit among those who would be vying for the top positions in the league.
Our next game against Golden Plains, a 3-1 home win, somewhat corrected our path but not in a way that looked or felt convincing. However, it was certainly a moment to appreciate that football isn’t always pretty or easy. But when the outcome is desirable and achieved, you take it.
Then came the match-up against top team Bell Park. When I look back on it now, what’s most pleasing of all as a coach is that we took parts of our best game prior to that versus Surf Coast along with parts of the lessons learned against Laverton and combined them to come up with a display that hit all the right notes. We were bright, bold and aggressive at the ball, but above everything we harnessed the self-belief that had been slowly simmering.
Regardless of what others on the outside thought about our 5-1 win, it gave us our own signal, within our own camp, that we had it in ourselves to exceed what was expected.
Nothing has been achieved and like all trees we keep our feet on the ground, but always aspire to reach the sky. There’s still an element of uncertainty as to how and when the season will restart, but one thing’s for sure and that is we absolutely cannot wait to get going again.
It’s been 10 years since the Senior Mens first ever game. How well do you know our first season history?
NOTE: Quiz is about the firsts team only.
It is with great regret that must inform you that John Turner has resigned from his position as a Director of Gisborne Soccer Club and his role as Sponsorship Director.
With a significant amount raised from sponsorships this year following a very difficult period with COVID, the Club's financial position seems significantly less at risk than it was at the heart of the pandemic and John's contribution to that has been significant. However he has now found it necessary to take the decision to resign in the face of increasing business responsibilities of his own that require his time.
John is a long standing member of the Club having coached previously and with kids having played here. Despite this resignation, he remains one of our generous sponsors, a commitment he has made to the Club over a number of years via the Black Forest Motel. Additionally he will continue to strut his stuff in the vets team (hamstrings permitting) and advocate for the Club he has devoted so much of his time to down the years.
Thank you John for stepping into the breach at what was a tricky time for the Club and we look forward to your unmistakable presence around the grounds over the remainder of this season and for seasons to come.
President, Richard Smart
I'm delighted to announce that last week's Committee Meeting saw the appointment of Steve Hamilton to the role of Assistant Secretary and Director of Gisborne Soccer Club. Steve joins myself (Richard Smart), Mick Spasojevic, Kathy van Emmerik, Mikki Maheras and John Turner bringing our total number of Directors to 6 (constitutionally we need between 5 and 7).
Steve has two children playing at Gisborne Soccer Club this season and has been involved with the club for a number of years. With knowledge and experience in other Victorian local council capital and infrastructure processes he will no doubt prove invaluable as we try to tackle our floodlights issue and progress the Dixon Master plan, amongst other areas of workload in which we need some more help.
Welcome Steve!
Fixtures for the Sunday competitions have been announced, please note they are subject to change so please check your fixtures on a regular basis.
Our Senior Men begin their season this weekend with Round 1 of State League 4. It’s been 10 years since the Senior Mens first ever game. How well do you know our Round 1 history?
NOTE: Quiz is about the firsts team only.
Our Senior Women’s team are once again competing in the Nike FC Cup, Football Victoria’s Women’s knockout cup competition.
We face Geelong Rangers SC in the Qualifying Round on Sunday March 14, time & venue to be confirmed at the time of writing.
Geelong Rangers SC compete in Division 1 of the Geelong Regional leagues, where they have finished top of the table in their last 2 seasons, 2018 & 2019.
The winner of this clash will progress to Round 1 of the knockout competition.
Our Senior Men will compete this weekend in Round 1 of the FFA Cup, which we’ve been a part of since 2016. See how well you know our FFA Cup history.
Our 2021 State League fixtures are now online.
We will start our campaign with 2 games at home starting with Barnestoneworth, who were promoted from SL5 in 2019, followed by Melbourne Uni a week later.
Our return fixture against Melbourne Uni will be played on a Friday night, it is the only fixture not being played at the 1:00pm & 3:00pm Saturday kick off times.
We have two away games in a row in Geelong, however a catch-up round is scheduled in between these fixtures.
The final fixture for the season is scheduled to be away at Truganina.
You can view the full season fixtures here. Sunday league fixtures are still to be announced.
I'm sorry to announce that Olga Bartasek has had to resign from Gisborne Soccer Club as a Director and our registrar due to the volume of her other personal commitments. However I am also pleased to let you know she has committed to continuing as a general committee member and is already providing input on how we can tailor our constitution so as to more clearly apply to situations the club might encounter.
Olga has been involved with the club for many years with kids playing here in a number of age groups and has even dazzled with her skills herself in the Soccer Sevens tournaments. Her willingness to step up recently, at a time of relative crisis was vital to the continuation of the club over the past year or two and her experience in the way community clubs operate effectively has guided us through with minimal damage. Additionally her contributions to boosting the status of women and girls at the club has been much valued and she has even found ways to get some of the kids contributing to the workload with her son Liam producing a promotional video for us! Just because we can't send them down the mines nowadays doesn't mean they can't make themselves useful! ;o)
Thank you Olga for your efforts and pleased to know you will still be around to help out.
President, Richard Smart
MiniRoos are back again for Season 2021, once more offering Saturday Mornings for beginners and Sundays for small sided matches.
Register your interest here for our Womens team in 2021
With the final training session of 2020 for our Senior Men’s squad drawing to a close, it would be easy to think of what might have been after a seemingly wasted year. However, casting an eye over the group, you are reminded of the effort they’ve put in, the resolve they’ve shown and better times ahead with the beginnings of what looks to be a bright future.
Four players from our current U15s squad accepted an invitation to train with the Seniors for the first time and they joined two other youth players who had begun training with the Senior squad at the start of 2020 but, due to the null and void season, have not featured in any fixtures to date.
Young players Henry Taylor (L) and Darby Hester (R) train alongside the experienced Matt Hume (C).
These six players can be added to the seven youth players who had made their debut as part of the Reserves team in season 2019, with one of them also earning a spot as a substitute for a Senior matchday squad.
Youth development, particularly integrating our younger players with the Senior squad, has been a focus at the club for a number of years and this approach continues to build momentum.
“As a club, it’s important for us to open up that player pathway and present opportunities to play, enjoy and learn about football from juniors right through to seniors,” said Senior Men’s Head Coach Danny Moore.
Youth player Alex Spasojevic joins his first senior training session.
“Ideally, our aim is to nurture and develop young, homegrown talent and to give them a Senior platform to build towards – and one way of doing that is by giving them exposure to that environment so they can get a sense and an appreciation of what it’s like, and hopefully hold aspirations to reach those levels.”
Recent integration has been met with extremely positive feedback from the players themselves, but also clear signs of development and ‘football maturity’.
“Often we see a player’s age is not a boundary, as if they demonstrate the right attitude and behaviours, are willing to learn and show that they are capable of maximising their talent and potential, a younger player already as some of the key attributes to fit in with a Senior set-up,” said Danny.
“For the youth players who have trained with us more regularly, we’ve seen a huge improvement. Not just in a football sense, but also learning more about themselves and what they are capable of. A lot of this comes from being around older, more experienced players where growth is maybe more organic than taught – training and playing at a higher tempo with greater stimulus for decision-making naturally lifts their game.”
By bringing in younger players to train alongside the Senior Men, where both groups are concerned the benefits are two-fold.
A first run with the senior group for youth player Liam Bartasek.
“We want our Senior players to role-model the right behaviours and develop a better understanding of how they can positively influence others. So when a youth players comes in, there’s a sense of responsibility attached to the older guys – they have a really important part to play as mentors and leaders. So in terms of what’s expected, they are really all learning from each other,” said Danny.
While it was a case of a season that never was in 2020, the club have continued to lay the groundwork to foster and promote youth development within their ranks with the aim of establishing a pipeline of young footballers who are ‘evolving through experience’ and can bring success and fulfilment for themselves and the club for many years to come.
Whilst the current crop of youth players provides excitement for the future, Seniors Team Manager Jarrod Greer is quick to remind us that youth has played a key role since day one of the Senior Men’s squad. “We won the thing in 2011 with 5 players under 18 in our squad, they were too old for the oldest junior team we had at the time. This was in addition to 10 former junior players who had returned to the club, they only left as there was no senior football for them here, they came back as soon as this became an option.”
Our first Men’s squad in 2011 featured 5 players under 18, and 10 others who had previously played junior football at Gisborne including inaugural captain Adam Nadin.
“We then had an influx of exceptionally good club people coming through from juniors into seniors over the next two seasons as well. We had guys like Nath (Moore) who is still round the place, (Andrew) Smale who was captain and well as a committee member, and Roni (Lachlan Turner) leading the ressies until he kept getting called up to seniors. There were many more as well.”
With a quick look through the history books it is clear to see that youth has been a massive narrative of the club. There have been six captains of the Men’s squad with five of those having been youth players at the club. Andrew Smale is the only one of those captains to have gone direct from a youth team to the senior squad without playing senior football elsewhere first. He was also part of a committee that oversaw the transition from Sunday to Saturday football in a bid to keep youth at the club.
“The move from Sunday to Saturday was all about providing the best opportunities for our players to be involved at a decent level” said former Vice-President & Treasurer Steve Gembarovski. “The committee had a direction of a ‘Big Picture Club’, where we looked at things that would be of benefit for members now and into the future. Ideally, we want players to be rising through the ranks and experience all their football with us, progressing from MiniRoos, through the juniors and into the seniors.”
“We had really low participation numbers in 2013 & 2014. When we dived further into those numbers, we noticed a trend of the older aged junior boys (U15’s – U18’s) dropping off so we set about seeing why this was the case. The feedback showed three main reasons for leaving – poor facilities, poor competition & loss of interest in the sport.”
“We knew we were in a position to address two of those issues, that being the competition and the facilities, so we decided early in 2015 that from season 2016 onwards we would have the Senior Men compete in the State League competition.”
Funding for a new pavilion to be built at Dixon Field had already been secured by this point, construction was due to start late 2015 with the opening due not long after the start of the first season in the State League competition.
New box net goals were installed as part of a major infrastructure and equipment upgrade.
That committee also oversaw the installation of new goals, benches for the main pitch, and multiple lighting upgrades to help improve the training areas. All in all, the committee at the time raised over $1.2M for infrastructure around the club.
“It was like starting everything new again” said Gembarovski, “Even the training balls and kits were replaced. Some kids were still using kits that were 10-12 years old. Our theory was to provide all the best equipment to use, next stop was to find the right coaches then it was up to the players from there”.
Season 2018 saw several senior players return to the club. They had been juniors at Gisborne but sought senior football opportunities elsewhere for those three reasons identified by the committee at the time. This homecoming felt like hard decisions and hard work paying off. Promotion to State League 4 was won as we secured second place on the table.
Social media image from 2018 celebrating U16s Boys winning the league.
At the same time the U16’s boys also experienced on-field success becoming the North-West division Champions before narrowly being defeated in the final two weeks later. They had been coached that season by Tyson Lopez who himself had come through the junior ranks to become a senior player & two-time player of the year.
“Tys did a fantastic job that year with those boys” reflects Jarrod Greer. “For a young bloke himself to be able to help in such a huge way whilst himself paying was incredible. It really helped with our vision of developing players an integrating them into the senior system. The next step was to get them playing reserves football in 2019.”
2019 did not start in an ideal way, by mid-season both Senior and Reserves coaches had departed the club. “There was a feeling at committee level that we would be losing some quality people, quality both on & off field, if we didn’t address the coaching situation.” said Greer. “The next coach had to be someone who could not only oversee success of a Senior squad but embrace and develop on our youth culture, integrate up and coming players into the squad.”
Danny Moore coaching. He took over mid 2019 and thanks to Covid-19 has seemingly coached more pre-seasons than actual matches.
Three candidates were interviewed with Danny Moore being successful. “I think we knew within five minutes of meeting him he was the one” Greer quipped “I think I had pencilled him in even before the football talk began, his character is second to none and it really shone through, I was convinced very quickly he’s the right fit for the culture at the club.”
With the appointment of Moore complete discussions turned back to obtaining a reserves coach. “Thankfully Kev (McIntyre) was available and now I think the whole squad is in really good hands”.
We now hope, like everyone else in Victoria, that we can look forward to an enjoyable 2021 season where everyone and the club thrives and continues to develop their game.
with Chris Yeend
Senior Men’s training returns Tuesday January 12. New players are most welcome to join, please contact Danny via email for further details.
We are please to welcome back our Senior Men as they begin their preparations for Season 2021.
Pre-Season will commence on Tuesday December 1 and will run for 3 weeks prior to the Christmas/ New Year break. We will then resume on Tuesday January 12.
Anyone wishing to join the squad please contact our coach via email daniel.moore@gisbornesc.com
The Annual General Meeting was held last night, we wish to advise and congratulate the following people who were elected unopposed as club Directors for the next two seasons:
President: Richard Smart
Vice President: Michael Spasojevic
Treasurer: Kathy Van Emmerik
Registrar: Olga Bartasek
Secretary: Mikki Maheras
Sponsorship Director: John Turner
We wish to extend our thanks and well wishes to the former club Directors who have vacated their roles in 2020.
We’re always looking for more hands on deck so if you would like to get involved and help in some way please email volunteering@gisbornesc.com
Hi Gisborne SC Members,
Late yesterday I had verbal confirmation from a North West region representative that the Junior and MiniRoos leagues our teams were due to compete in starting this weekend have been postponed for the 6 week lock down period imposed by the State Government. Our Senior teams, who were not due to start until July 25, are also in postponed status.
On the back of this, the observation that the region in which our club operates has not been locked down and requests from members, the Committee has resolved to investigate alternative footballing plans for the rest of this season that we can offer to our membership instead. They include:
approaching FV to discuss the possibility of entering teams into the Bendigo league (which will commit to only after consulting each team individually to confirm their interest in an opportunities FV can arrange). The Bendigo league began last weekend and have not been postponed due to state government restrictions
running intra-club tournaments on weekends (and ceasing midweek training to save on lighting costs - which average about $70 per night)
continuing to train as normal and possibly augment with coaching clinics and specialist external coaches for Junior and MiniRoos sides where we have access to funds for explicitly these reasons (I believe generally conditional sponsorship agreements)
Once these offerings have been fleshed out a bit more and approximately costed we can offer them on a team by team basis, via managers and coaches, for their consideration. In parallel we'll prepare an approximate cost incurred per member to date (lights, kit/uniform, registration, professional training, ground rent, etc) to establish what the club can afford to refund if parents or players prefer that option. Please note: we have no control or say in whether the FFA/FV portion of your fees will be refunded, this is determined by FFA/FV.
There are a few teams with a small number of players (and coaches) from lock down areas who are unable to take any options anyway and for those people we understand that cancelling their involvement with club activities this season is the only realistic option for them.
We understand this season has been an almighty drag and in some cases people just want to cut and run and we sympathise with that. However because the club is a not-for-profit organisation, and our budget set late in 2019 reflects this, it would go broke if everyone did that. Therefore we want to devise an offer that still enables everyone to participate in football activities, providing our members with value for money and prevents putting the club into administration. Administration costs will need to be paid out first (majority of this has been already been paid in preparation for the season) and conditional funds where not yet touched get returned to donors, sponsors etc.
In relation to refunds, as per above the club simply cannot afford to refund all members in full. The club would collapse. It was not in a good financial position at the end of last year* and the directors are working hard to correct that but it's really not a quick job. The COVID pandemic has only made that even more difficult.
As Directors of the club, all of whom are unpaid by it, we are obliged to do what they can to avert insolvency and administration. I remind you of who the Directors of the club are below, noting that the majority are extremely new, still getting to grips with how the club is run and financed, what it's assets and liabilities are and are trying our level best to get it through this very tricky time solvent.
If anyone wants to look in depth at the financial records of the club, Treasurer Mikki Maheras is happy to accommodate at some point**. I know it's cliched to say this but cooperation, tolerance and a bit of space to do this is really appreciated. As a community club we promise we'll do all we can to ensure that longer term, nobody misses out.
Thanks,
Richard Smart
Vice-President
Mel Paradiso - President (1st year), Director 2nd year, 4 years member of the club
Richard Smart - Vice President (1st year), Director 1st year, 5 years member of the club
Kathy Van Emerick - Secretary (3 days), Director 1st year, >5 years member of the club
Mikki Maheras - Treasurer (1st Year), Director 1st year, 2 years member of the club
Paul Gibson - Assistant Secretary (1st Year), Director 1st year, >5 years member of the club
Olga Bartasek - Registrar (1st Year), Director 1st year, >5 years member of the club
* Financial situation at the end of last year refers to the shed project that ran over budget. Under normal, non-pandemic, circumstances this would have corrected itself.
** Please note: this information is only available for current Gisborne SC Members and must be kept confidential.
Our Senior Mens captains popped in to see our shirt sponsors, thanking them with a framed shirt signed by members of our squad.
*Image digitally altered, social distancing was adhered to at the time of the shoot
Above Senior Co-Captains Matt Hume (L), wearing our training shirt, and Jake McIntyre (R), wearing our clash shirt, present Shaz & Shannon of The Telegraph Hotel a framed home shirt, which hangs proudly in their must see new sports bar.
Below Reserves Co-Captains Joe Cavoli (L), holding our training shirt, and Sam Allen (R), holding our clash shirt, present Leo of Carscape Australia a framed home shirt. With some amazing memorabilia and some awesome cars already on show, we’re glad this won’t look out of place.
We once again thank The Telegraph Hotel & Carscape Australia, along with all our club sponsors, for their ongoing support. Please, as always, support our sponsors and pop in to see these wonderful frames.
Thanks to What Knots Picture Framing for their fantastic work in making this happen.
And why number 98 on the back? It’s a nod to the year we were established of course!
