Happy Friday Everyone!

As we progress quickly towards the start of the season, I wanted to provide an update on a few things happening.

Registrations
We had a terrific turn out at registration day last weekend with lots of new smiling faces and some returning players coming to get fresh apparel or gear. Thank you to the club members who helped out to make the day successful. And thanks to Greg and the parents who assisted at our community days to promote the club – this attracted many new families and players.
Our numbers are looking really strong this year as we look to expand on the number of teams from previous seasons. This increase means it is taking a little bit of time to get team lists sorted and we still have a few players from last season to re-register as well.
Our registrations are still open, and will be till teams are at capacity, so if you have any friends that want to come to training and give it a try, we would love to welcome them where playing lists permit. We are encouraging as many girls as possible as this has been our biggest growth area – spread the word!
Team lists will be released shortly and Team App groups for your teams will be set up to allow for easy communication between the team. Please ensure Team App is your communication tool as this helps have one central place of information. If you haven’t already, please download Team App and we can assist you if needed.

Coaches 2020
Terry is making great progress with coach appointments for this season and is aiming to announce these with the team lists very soon. Terry is the primary contact for coaches and will ensure they have what they need to make them and their teams successful. Another really positive move forward in 2020 and all our teams will benefit.

Training Schedules
As we appoint coaches, we are requesting their preferred training times. With 14 teams it can be challenging to balance everyone’s needs with ground availability. Again, this is close to being finalised and as soon as it is available, you will be notified. The younger teams (9 & 10) do not start training till closer to the season – First Round 19 April.

League By Laws
There have been some changes to the league by laws and there are a couple of key things that will impact our club:
- Junior Match Policy will come into effect this season for u9 boys and u10 girls. This means they will play on a modified field with less players on the ground (for u9 boys & for u10 girls). Coaches will be briefed on how we will manage the grounds and more information will be available closer to the season
- AFL Age Dispensation Policy is now in our guiding policy for age groups. This means is that all players must play in their correct age group (i.e. the age they are on 1 Jan e.g. if 13 on 1 Jan they play u14) No longer does the girls format allow for 3 older age players to play down so we are forming an u16’s team to ensure all players at our club can play football. ANY requests to play at a lower age group will required a valid medical certificate in line with the national policy. Any assistance please see Sarah.
- Playing up – players are able to play up should the team require extra players and the parent and coach determine that player to be physically and socially capable. There is no limit on the number of games able to be played up however the request for top up players needs to be managed through Terry to ensure we manage player development and team consistency.
- Full length garments are able to be worn by players from u9-10s but must be the club approved top. Players in older age groups must request permission from the league (via the club) to wear full length under garments. Please speak with us if you would like to request this.
- There will be no interchange steward going forward and water carriers are only required for ages 11-18 teams.
- All players must arrive at the ground and take the field by 1/4 time to be eligible to play (previously 1/2 time). All players must sign 2 copies of the team sheet when they arrive (U11-18) before taking the field.

Other Policies
We require at least 1 parent from every registered family to have their Working With Children Check and provide a copy of their details when registering on Sports TG. ALL parents who hold an official role in the club or with a team, MUST have a WWCC. This is very important to the club and we will be monitoring and enforcing it this season. Please let us know if you need help with obtaining one – they are free for volunteers.

Sponsorship
We are working with our sponsors from previous seasons to renew their sponsorship of teams and playing tops. With extra teams this year we are looking for some new sponsors so it you have a business and would like to sponsor a team, please speak with me. We would also love someone to assist with managing our sponsorships this season so if you are interested, again come see me or give me a call.

Thanks for bearing with me, there was a lot to cover. If I missed anything, or you have any specific questions, please feel free to email me on president@morningtonjfc.com.

Have a wonderful weekend. Go Doggies!!
Katrina