Update from the President

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!

Resignation of Director

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

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 2019/2020

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

Update from the Vice President

Hi Gisborne SC Members,

No competitive football for GSC the foreseeable future

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. 

Alternative options:

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. 

Refunds:

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

Directors:

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.

Annual General Meeting 2018/2019

Notice is given that the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Gisborne Soccer Club for the 2018/2019 Year will be held as follows:

Date: Monday 6th July 2020
Time: 7:00pm online using the Google Meet application at this time.
Location: Online (To join the meeting – click or type the following link https://meet.google.com/oez-xoob-vqx )

The committee will endeavour to hold the meeting in person at the club rooms if possible and will make a determination of and update members by 5:00pm on Friday 3rd July 2020.

This meeting is required since the AGM held on Tuesday 12th November was adjourned as it did not comply with the requirements for an AGM in accordance with Associations Incorporation Reform Act 2012 (Vic).

We would like to bring to the attention of all Gisborne SC members that following the adjourned AGM the following Committee Members have stood down/resigned from their roles:

• Rodney Smith - President

• Julian Bakhurst - Secretary

• Jarrod Greer - Assistant Secretary

• Steve Gembarovski - Treasurer

These roles have been filled by:

• Mel Paradiso - President

• Tim Callinan - Secretary 

• Paul Gibson - Assistant Secrtary

• Mikki Maheras - Treasurer

The following positions were also added and/or filled:

• Kathy Van Emmerik - Assistant Treasurer

• Olga Bartasek - Registrar

• Susanne Tzamouranis - Junior Coordinator

The following continue in their positions:

• Richard Smart - Vice President and Miniroos Coordinator

• Jarrod Greer - Head of Senior Men’s Football and Media Coordinator

• Glenn Matthews - Grants Coordinator

The following Members are part of the General Committee:

• Julian Bakhurst

• Justin Knott

• Silvana Piccolo

• Michael Spasojevic 

We are proud to have a great team of volunteers to lead Gisborne SC into the future. We want to extend our thanks and appreciation to the previous Committee members for all their hard work.

The committee would appreciate as many members as possible involved with the meeting but we need to know how many will attend so we can manage under the COVID restrictions on gatherings. Therefore please advise the secretary by 5:00pm on Friday 03/07/2020 if you will be attending to guarantee admission.

Tim Callinan
Secretary
Gisborne Soccer Club

Training Resumes

All of us at Gisborne SC are excited, relieved and grateful that training, albeit in a restricted form, is able to return this week amid the COVID-19 Pandemic.

We all know it has been a long and frustrating wait through this uncertain time. We acknowledge and fully support the protocols that have been set by Football Victoria for this return, which are available here. We recommend you read through them to familiarize yourself with what you need to do to stay safe.

PLEASE NOTE THE FOLLOWING:

• Training is for players & volunteers who are confirmed REGISTERED MEMBERS of Gisborne SC. If your membership has not yet been accepted, please email membershipsgsc@gmail.com for further assistance.

• Strict times are in place as per the protocols, your coach or team manager will advise you of what times you need to arrive & leave - THIS MUST BE ADHERED TO.

• Dixon Field’s pavilions will remain CLOSED, parents/guardians dropping their kids off are advised to either stay in their cars (in the car park) or go home during training. You CANNOT be standing around spectating.

We thank everyone in advance for their help and understanding as we work through this together.

May Newsletter

Gisborne Soccer Club Committee hope that you are all staying well and safe in these isolating times.

Following on from recent communication from Football Victoria, the committee is actively preparing for a start to the season and we appreciate your responses to the survey about the restart of the season, in particular the desire to only play on the weekend and not mid-week.

To date the only information that we have on the likely restart is contained in this media report from The Age. We are expecting an announcement very soon and if what is reported is accurate then there is not much time to prepare, so we'd appreciate any help members can offer and ask for understanding at this time as we work hard to get things organised.

There have been some exciting developments at the club since we have gone into lock down but there will be some challenges that we will need to overcome this season as a result:

1. Extension of Season beyond the original planned finish in September and into October/November or even December

2. Macedon Ranges Shire Council (MRSC) will be renovating the old pavilion which means that we will not have access to the old pavilion or the new Shed so all operations will be based around the New Pavilion.

3. MRSC have completed repairing the damaged areas of the main pitch (see images below) and we need to keep off it for as long as possible to give it the best opportunity to flourish.

4. MRSC have also removed the large gum tree that was situated to the northern end of the training & MiniRoos pitches. This tree sadly suffered extensive damage earlier in the year when it was struck by lightning leaving the remaining section unsafe. Whilst we enjoyed the shaded area the tree provided we are excited that the area has now been turfed which allow the opportunity to extend our playing & training areas.

Gisborne Soccer Club Directors would also like to advise members of some changes to the Executive as follows:

• Steve Gembarovski has resigned from the position of Treasurer with Gisborne Soccer Club, effective Monday 13th April 2020. The club thanks Steve for his contribution over the past 6 years. If any member would like more details including a copy of the resignation letter please contact the Secretary, Tim Callinan.

• In accordance with Clause 9.5 of our Club Constitution, the majority of Directors have elected to fill this vacancy immediately and appoint Mikki Maheras who is a committee member and has extensive financial management experience and meets the requirements detailed in the Position description of Treasurer and as such will deliver the required outcomes for Gisborne Soccer Club Incorporated.    

• Justin Knott has resigned from the position of Assistant Secretary and will continue to contribute as a general committee member.  The Directors have elected to fill the position of Assistant Secretary and welcome Paul Gibson to the position.

If you have any questions regarding these changes or anything else related to this season then please do not hesitate to contact Mel to discuss on 0491 737 954.

New President

After a thorough process of interviewing a number of high quality applicants, the Directors of Gisborne Soccer Club are please to announce that Mel Paradiso has been chosen to be our new President.

Mel has been a huge contributor on the committee since 2016, most notably in her recent role as Registrar and for organising the Go Sevens program.

In selecting Mel as President the Directors saw the this as an opportunity to shuffle a number of roles around, as we welcome new people to both the board of Directors & to the extended general Committee. This move will help ensure the smooth running of the club beyond the current Directors tenure.

We are also looking forward to working with the unsuccessful candidates as we seek to create roles that play to their strengths and benefit Gisborne Soccer Club as a whole.

Please congratulate Mel on her appointment, further announcements in relation to other roles will be made shortly.

#BornToBeBlue #GSC2020 #MelPresidente

Committee & Directors Changes

We wish to advise of the following changes to the Directors of Gisborne Soccer Club:

On Monday 11 November 2019, the Gisborne SC Directors accepted the resignation of Glenn Matthews from his position as Vice President. Glenn has held this role twice, the latest stint being for the past 12 months. Glenn has stood down from this role due to time constraints. We thank Glenn for his contribution as Vice President and are pleased that he will remain on the extended committee continuing in his highly successful role as Grants Coordinator.

As per the club Constitution Richard Smart was voted in as Vice President by the remaining Directors, he will fill the role as a casual vacancy. Richard has most recently been the MiniRoos Coordinator, seeing our Saturday morning program go from strength to strength. At the other end of the spectrum he has recently set the wheels in motion for an over 35’s competition that we are looking to implement in the near future.

On Friday 15 November 2019. the Gisborne SC Directors accepted the resignation of Rodney Smith from his position as President. Rodney has held this role for 5 & a half years, during this time we have seen the construction of a new pavilion, the male senior & reserves teams switch from Sunday to Saturday competitions, all of our goals & equipment replaced, new benches installed, and most important of all our participation numbers increase nearly double (based on 2013 figures).

Behind the scenes Rodney oversaw the implementation of new bookkeeping software along with new policies and procedures to ensure the financial issues experienced by the previous Directors could not be repeated. An independent analysis, from Club Builder, recently awarded us a 4-star rating for governance along with providing us guidance on how to work towards the 5-star mark.

Rodney has stepped down due to personal reasons, at this stage a replacement has not been appointed. We thank Rodney for his contribution and support to the club, we know we will see him around the club as he takes some time to enjoy games as a proud parent.

The Directors would like to invite people to nominate for the Committee, where it be a Directors role or that of an Office Bearer. The more hands on deck we have the better, small contributions make an enormous difference.