In addition to a typical New Year message this does also contain important information on our plans for 2023
After the initial omicron wave in January 2022 had been a return to normalcy for us. We ran our first Winter season for three years and we continued growing. In 2021-22 our social competitions became the largest in Victoria (11 years ago we were 4th) . 2022 has continued this growth although at a slower rate across adults mixed, men’s, and women’s and juniors. All in all a great year but growth poses challenges so let’s look at what is coming up
Draws and Grades
Teams have now been allocated across all weeks of the split round:
For Wednesday’s the draw here
https://princesparktouch.com/social-competition/wednesday-draw/
A small number of teams played in a special Christmas round last week with the balance playing on the 05th (Thursday men’s) or 11th and 12th (Wednesday and Thursday mixed)
For Thursday’s the draw here :
https://princesparktouch.com/social-competition/thursday-draw/
If you are playing please get organised now, this means communicating with the team and putting the call out for recruits/fill ins if your team is low on numbers. The new year is a great time to start a new sport so if your teams needs players start recruiting now.
The finalisation of grades wil happen immediately after the split round in the new year.
Refereeing
Growth poses challenges and one of them is refereeing. We have the best referees and we look after them well (financially and socially). They enjoy it and keep coming back but we need to recruit more to cover the growth we’ve had and relocations
Princes Park is unique in that most referees are also players and we’ve also found that the teams that have a player referee on the team play better, socialise more and last (4 teams more than 15 years).
We will undertaking some initiatives in the new year but organic recruitment is best so we urge you to encourage your team mates to give it a go.
Membership
As a non profit incorporated association devoted to touch football our players must be members. Essential to this are:
Data and insurance
- Having a complete team list. All captains have been contacted on this and if everyone is signing on (see below it is simply a question of sending us the names.
- Signing on each week. Signing on via our online form is required for every player every week. This is not simply for contact tracing but also for membership, insurance, and finals purposes.
Without comprehensive data, we can’t communicate with our members, are not covered by insurance, and may not get ground bookings or grant funding. We need to do better on this and cooperation of our captains is essential.
Understanding membership and its responsibilities
Uniquely at PPT every regular participant ia member. We look after our members but membership has responsibilities. Every player must have read the membership faq, to understand these. Every captain must ensure all regular players have read the faq and are familiar with it.
PPT Juniors
In November and December we ran a six week free juniors program. We will be looking at doing this again in February/March and are looking to grow the numbers. For those of you with children in years 6-9 (or with family members in that range). Talk to us on the night and/or check the website to find out more.
Represent PPT in 2023
As well as the second half of our touch season, 2023 also brings opportunities to represent PPT.
We will be sending teams to State Cup in February! More info will be posted when TFV finalises the date. Both on the website, and the boards next to the fields in the new year.
Your ideas?
This year we have been investing in making the competition better. Examples are new flags, the marquees, referee jerseys and the representative program I mentioned above. However we welcome your ideas on other things we can do?
Finally enjoy the Christmas/New Year break and hope to see you fighting fit (not fat!), when we return in 2023.
See you on the field
