2024 president’s report
Welcome to the 2024 Annual General Meeting.
Firstly, I would like to send out a huge thank-you to all the Committee people for their hard work and dedication to our junior club. I have been enormously impressed with the amount of work each of these people have put in over the season and their unwavering enthusiasm and willingness to help wherever they could.
The Club had 383 players registered across 18 Teams this year, including 2 extra Girls teams, and we will be working hard to get both Under 14 Girls and Under 18 teams up as well for 2025. The past two years has seen us focus on our girls’ teams and by adding both these teams will provide a pathway for our Titans girls to play from Auskick through to Under 18s and then onto senior women’s. To demonstrate our continued commitment in this space we are working towards becoming a signatory to the AFL Women’s & Girls Charter, with Amey, Colleen and Jess Murphy finalising the action plan to submit in the coming months.
Of the 12 competing teams, 6 played Finals with 3 of those Teams playing off in the Grand Finals. Despite not winning any Premierships this year, to have half our sides competing in the Finals is a magnificent achievement.
On behalf of the Club, I would like to send out a heartfelt thank-you to all Coaches and their officials for the time and effort they have put in this season and my biggest thank-you goes to the Players, for without them, we wouldn’t be here.
Congratulations to the seven Players, Sam Carter, Emmett Jackson, Monyjur Nyok, Tyler Ryan, Darcey Maas, Clare Allison and Morgan Neal, who received awards from the League this year and congrats to the 2 Best Conducted Clubs, Under 12 Girls and U15 Green.
Off the field we have had an incredible year celebrating. We held three family nights, a kids disco for the younger age groups, a very successful Trivia Night and marked the end of the year with an amazing presentation night for our Under 16 and Under 17 teams and windy presentation day for our Under 8 to U15 teams. The highlight of the year was raising more than $37,000 for MND Victoria (as well as $3,000 for Fight MND through sock sales). The competition for highest fundraiser was fierce with our Under 10 Green Coach, Daniel Waixel, taking the bragging rights. It was such a privilege to lead a club that is so passionate about giving back to the community and I want to thank Colleen for the dedication and work she has put in to all the events this year, but particularly the MND night. Let’s see how much we can raise when we do it again next year.
The addition of the artwork, designed by Samone, to the walls in the club rooms, along with bean bags, new seating and heaters made the club feel more welcoming and created a sense of belonging this year. The family survey reflected that there are still areas that can be improved and after many years of advocating for improvements to be made to our facilities, Council has offered us a brand-new facility that will be built in Berwick Waters. Construction on Springleaf Reserve will begin at the end of this year to have 2 full sized, fully lit and fenced ovals, brand new club rooms, a playground and best of all, plenty of parking! It is located halfway between where the club is based now and the seniors at Mick Morland Reserve, bringing us even closer together. This is a wonderful opportunity that will ensure our players have access to the best and most modern facilities, that many of our opposing clubs already have, and to see continued growth for the club into the future. At this stage we hope to be in for the start of the 2026 season.
The Junior Club will continue to work with our Senior Club to maintain a strong link between the 2 and let all players at the Juniors know that there will always be a place to go when you have finished your junior career.
I would like to wish those not returning to the Committee for 2025 all the very best and I hope to see them be around supporting the Club.
To the incoming Committee of 2025, I am looking forward to having an even more successful season both on and off the field and I will be working to continue building a positive and inclusive culture that will keep the Club a harmonious and enjoyable place to be.
Thank-you for your support this year.
Kind regards,
Wayne Webster
Interim President 2024