Mitchelton Football Club est 1920, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, Home of Mitchie Soccer

By Wayne Goldsmith

Change is one of the most talked about aspects of sport.

But change is also one of the hardest things to actually introduce successfully and sustain in any sporting environment.

Why?

Because people who introduce change are often seen as radicals or “ratbags” or people who know nothing about the sport or people who don’t understand the sport’s culture or similar negative label.

Change innovators in sport have to fight through three phases to make a real difference:

1. Ridicule - Real innovators, lateral thinkers and change drivers have to first face the conservative thinkers in the sport who will label their push to change as stupid, ill informed and ridiculous.
2. Resistance - If the idea gets through Phase 1, it then meets hard opposition from people who are benefiting from the current thinking and who will fight hard to resist new ideas and any challenge to their position and beliefs.
3. Acceptance - finally if you can get through the days, weeks, months or even years of fighting, political maneuvering, back stabbing and other obstacles you have to overcome, you can introduce real change and ensure the sport progresses.

There are two true but conflicting statements I can confidently make about competitive sport:

1. Change is critical - it is essential to survive. In competitive sport, the faster you can accelerate your rate of change - faster than your opposition - the more likely it is you can sustain competitiveness and win BUT
2. Sport is incredibly conservative. It is more resistant to change than almost any other area of society and some people will resist change to the point of seeing the club or sport fail if it means changing their beliefs and their position.

How can people possibly defend this conservative position?

In sport, more than most other human endeavours, “success is a moving target”. Athletes, coaches and teams who are first at introducing new ideas and innovations and usually the winners, the champions, the gold medalists, the premiers - the success stories.

So, if change is the life blood of being successful in competitive sport, why are so many people so determined to “open an artery” and let the sport bleed to death rather than embrace the change process?

1. “It’s different here” - The most common “anti-change” comment you hear when you try to change things in sport is “it’s different here”: meaning this team or club or sport is different to the rest of the world and doesn’t need to change, evolve or improve. Rubbish!
2. “You don’t understand the culture of this sport” - whilst it is true that all sports and indeed all teams have a unique culture, what is also true is that the core principles of success apply to every sport and team regardless of their culture.
3. “We don’t have the money to change” - another common “anti change” comment. My experience working with hundreds of sports in 25 countries is that money is rarely the real issue. The most common impediments to effective change all over the world always has been and still are personalities (i.e. people standing in the way of change) and politics.
4. “We’re on top so we don’t need to change” - it is harder to sustain success and repeat winning than it is to do it a single time so logically, the people most in need of change are those who have been successful. They are the people most likely to believe they have hit on the “secret formula to success” and will resist change to the “secret formula” harder than any group.
5. “That’s not the way we do it here” - a painful destructive mindset which often permeates when former players and coaches from the sport’s “glory years” sit on the Board and believe the solutions to the Club’s current problems lie in going back to the past.
6. “You’ve never played the game” - there is no doubt that current and former players can add significant value to the quality of leading any team, but rejecting the ideas, suggestions and expertise of anyone who hasn’t played the game is a guarantee of failure. It’s like saying the only people who can listen to music must be musicians or the only people who can go to art galleries must be artists.
7. “We need to introduce change slowly” - a great idea……..if you want to improve slowly and let your competition get away from you.
8. “We have this dominating, hard headed, old Chairman who refuses to change - we will never get anything going” - guess what? There is one of these in every sport, in every team, in every country in the world. The “old administrator” who has been in a position for 30 years and will do anything to cling to power. Unfortunately this is a fact of life - get over it, work around them and get on with it.
9. “I can’t get people to buy into the need to change” - another fact of life. Greek Philosophers BC have written about peoples’ resistance to change - it is one constant in a universe that thrives on change. A fundamental skill of great leaders is to convince people that change is necessary and to get them to support the new direction.
10. “It’s too difficult to change” - No it’s not. Everyday things change. Technology. The way we eat. The way we travel. The way we communicate. Everything is constantly changing and evolving. If you can’t change, then you are out of pace with the rest of the Universe.

Summary:

1. Think of the great people in sport, in life, in science, in art, in literature - why do we admire and respect them? Because they were different and difference means change: uniqueness is an advantage: being the leader in the introduction of change is a prerequisite for greatness.
2. Change is uncomfortable for most people but in elite sport it is as essential as having a training field, a quality training program and the right equipment if you want to be successful.
3. If you want things to change - be prepared to fight, fight hard, fight long but fight fair. Let the conservative thinkers in your sport do the dirty stuff, the name calling, tell the lies etc - just keep fighting a good, hard, clean fight and in the long run, you will win.

Mitchelton Football Club would like to thank Kyle Nix, Korey Nix and Jonathan Hedge for their assistance with the Skills Training Nights since 21 May 2008. All the boys have now returned to the UK in preparation for their season and we wish them the best for their future careers.

Due to continued good roll up on Wednesday Nights we have arranged for our Scottish players, Richard Davidson and Craig Caunter to continue the Skills Training on Wednesday evenings only from 5.30pm to 6.30pm.

Please contact Brett Ferguson on 0421 426 897 should you require any further information.

Small Sided Games – Ambassador Day this Saturday

FFA Regional Participation Manager, Phil Hazlett and ex Qld Roar player Stu McLaren will be at Mitchie this Saturday 7 June from 9am to 12 noon.   The idea of having Ambassadors for Small Sided Games is help with the introduction of this new concept across Australia.  Phil and Stuart will watch the morning events and talk to individual coaches and clarify any issues we are facing with the introduction of Small Sided Games.  At the end of the day's Small Sided Games about 11.15 am, they would like all the SSG Coaches to assemble for a demonstration session using our players.  We would appreciate all of our Coaches making a big effort to attend. 

We have also received a memo from Phil and have included its’ contents below for your information:

“It has been brought to my attention that in some instances some teams currently playing Small Sided Games are deliberately standing players in front of goal or in the goal. I have had reports that some coaches are instructing up to 3 players to stand in goal in an attempt to block shots from the opposition.

I would like to remind all "adults" in charge of teams or who have players in teams either at trainings or on game days that the SSG handbook clearly states that

"the emphasis is on participation and enjoyment, and an associated removal of the current emphasis on the importance of winning, children are much more likely to enjoy their football playing experience, will be keen to play more often and are less likely to drop out of the game."

Over the past 3 months I have noticed that it is the adults that are the ones that still need to understand and grasp the spirit and philosophy of SSG. It has been proven by the majority of clubs that have embraced the SSG concept across Queensland that by not encouraging the emphasis on winning, and just letting the players "play" that the SSG philosophy and guidelines work extremely well and are giving those players a great playing experience.

I would like to remind all club officials, coaches, game leaders, and parents that the Football Federation Australia Small Sided Games DVD has now been made available to all clubs. Among the rules, benefits, and explanations of guidelines etc, the DVD also contains training sessions that will help coaches prepare and educate players for Small Sided Games.

Football Queensland also offer the FFA Grassroots coaching certificate and interested clubs are encouraged to contact Kara Burley at Football Queensland on 07 3420 5866 to book a course.

This course is of three hours duration and is aimed at beginner coaches and teachers of players up to 10 years of age. It is designed to give them a basic understanding of their role and to provide them with practical ideas for training sessions, each participant also receives a coaching booklet full of SSG games and training sessions.

Football Queensland and FFA web sites also contain resources for clubs to encourage the coaches to coach SSG.  

I must remind the adults that the reason the children are involved in the game is to play, and have fun, kids will always keep score and they do not need the adults to encourage or manipulate the game's outcome.  I strongly encourage the adults to stand back and let the players just "play". We must keep in mind that it is the long term development of the players we are trying to encourage and not how many goals your U7 team beat the opposition by.

If you have any questions regarding any information in this e mail please feel free to contact me on the details below

Phillip Hazlett

Regional Participation Manager - QLD

Football Federation Australia

T +61 7 3420 5866

F +61 7 3420 5944

M +61 407 919 856

E This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it

W - http://www.footballaustralia.com.au ”

Next Premier League Home Game

Our next Premier League home game will be against local rivals Brisbane City on Saturday 14^th June.  This will again be a big event with 4 senior games starting at Midday and finishing with the Premier League kick off at 6.45pm.  We’ll also have our Under 7s in attendance (see below).

Under 7s at Premier League game – Saturday 14^th June

Our first trial of Small Sided Games before the Premier League was a real hit with all our Under 6 teams and those from Westside braving the weather conditions to come out and put on a fantastic display for the assembled crowd.  The Under 7s will be on display Saturday week, 14^th June at 5.45pm on the main field.  Please come along and enjoy, it’s a real treat.

Under 8s at Premier League

Following on from the Under 7s, on Saturday 21^st June the Under 8s will displaying their skills at 5.45pm on the main field before the Premier League play North Pine.

Art Union 2008

The 2008 Mitchelton FC Art Union tickets will be distributed to all families next week with all tickets to be returned by 7.15pm on Saturday 5^th July.  First Prize in this year’s Art Union is either  a $10,000 kitchen package supplied by Integra Interiors www.integra-interiors.com.au or $3,000 cash supplied by Approved Financial Consulting.  Each family will be issued with one book of 15 $2 tickets.  These tickets have been paid for in your registration fees, so you keep the proceeds of your sales and only need to return the tickets to the Club by the due date.

Skills Clinics up and running

Our Skills Clinics have commenced each weeknight from 5.30pm to 6.30pm with former Derby County player Korey Nix and former Rotherham United Goalkeeper Jon Hedge.  The attached flyer has all the details.  For further information please contact Mr Brett Ferguson, (Premier League Manager) Phone: 0421 426 897

School Holiday Clinics

The Mitchelton Football Club will be conducting two School Holidays Clinics at our facilities during the July School Holidays.  All the details are on the attached flyers.  In the first week of the School Holidays we will be conducting a Coerver Coaching Course for our Under 6 through to Under 10 ages starting Tuesday 1^st  July and finishing Friday 4^th July. In the second week of the School Holidays we will be conducting a Skills Clinic for the Under 11 to Under 16 Age groups hosted by Ian Runcie.  Ian is our Premier League Assistant Coach and has a wealth of experience coaching in the Qld Roar programs along with a Level 1 Coerver Coaching Accreditation.

Grandparents Day

Noel Lord’s junior team has introduced Grandparents Day to their team over the last couple of years and it has proved a great success.  We thought you all may be interested in it for your team.

Here’s how it can work:

·         Pick a home game that suits your team and Grandparents

·         Get the kids to ring their Grandparents and invite them to the game as special guests

·         When at the game, make a fuss of the Grandparents presence

·         After the game, take a photo of the team and of each player with their Grandparents

·         Say a few words of thanks to the Grandparents

·         You can also book the Club’s BBQ and have a sausage sizzle if you like

Noel Lord goes to the extra effort of downloading the photos onto his computer and designing a calendar for the coming year with the photos of the team and of the kids with their Grandparents.  He says it is extremely cost effective and is a great hit with the Grandparents and the kids.

Give it a go, and let us know how it works for your team.  Remember, your team chooses which day to be Grandparents Day.

Steve Jones Hardware & Landscape Discount Cards

Steve Jones Hardware and Landscape discount cards are available through the Team Managers pigeon holes inside the clubhouse.  A card is available for each family in the Club and entitles you to a discount each time you use Steve Jones Hardware and Landscape.  Remember – if you still have your old card it still works.

Coaches and Managers vs. Parents Annual Challenge

Our Annual Coaches and Managers vs. Parents Challenge is scheduled for Saturday 19^th July at 5.45pm before the Premier League game vs. Olympic.  If you would like to play in the game please contact Pedr Kilpatrick This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it or 0435 036 003.

Sponsors and Volunteers Dinner

Our Sponsors and Volunteers Dinner will be held at the Gaythorne RSL on Friday 25^th July.  More details and invitations will be sent shortly.

Small Sided Games Goals

The training and game goals are now available for all Under 6, 7 and 8 Age groups.  You will need to sign out the goals for the season with your Age Group Co-ordinator and utilized them for training and games.  The goals can be returned on the final game of the season.

Skills Clinics up and running

Our Skills Clinics have commenced each weeknight from 5.30pm to 6.30pm with former Derby County player Korey Nix and former Rotherham United Goalkeeper Jon Hedge.  The attached flyer has all the details.  For further information please contact Mr Brett Ferguson, (Premier League Manager) Phone: 0421 426 897

School Holiday Clinics

The Mitchelton Football Club will be conducting two School Holidays Clinics at our facilities during the July School Holidays.  All the details are on the attached flyers.  In the first week of the School Holidays we will be conducting a Coerver Coaching Course for our Under 6 through to Under 10 ages starting Tuesday 1^st  July and finishing Friday 4^th July. In the second week of the School Holidays we will be conducting a Skills Clinic for the Under 11 to Under 16 Age groups hosted by Ian Runcie.  Ian is our Premier League Assistant Coach and has a wealth of experience coaching in the Qld Roar programs along with a Level 1 Coerver Coaching Accreditation.

Grandparents Day

Noel Lord’s junior team has introduced Grandparents Day to their team over the last couple of years and it has proved a great success.  We thought you all may be interested in it for your team.

Here’s how it can work:

·         Pick a home game that suits your team and Grandparents

·         Get the kids to ring their Grandparents and invite them to the game as special guests

·         When at the game, make a fuss of the Grandparents presence

·         After the game, take a photo of the team and of each player with their Grandparents

·         Say a few words of thanks to the Grandparents

·         You can also book the Club’s BBQ and have a sausage sizzle if you like

Noel Lord goes to the extra effort of downloading the photos onto his computer and designing a calendar for the coming year with the photos of the team and of the kids with their Grandparents.  He says it is extremely cost effective and is a great hit with the Grandparents and the kids.

Give it a go, and let us know how it works for your team.  Remember, your team chooses which day to be Grandparents Day.

Steve Jones Hardware & Landscape Discount Cards

Steve Jones Hardware and Landscape discount cards will be available this week through the Team Managers pigeon holes inside the clubhouse.  A card is available for each family in the Club and entitles you to a discount each time you use Steve Jones Hardware and Landscape.  Remember – if you still have your old card it still works.

Art Union 2008

The 2008 Mitchelton FC Art Union tickets will be distributed to all families in early June with all tickets to be returned by 7.15pm on Saturday 5^th July.  First Prize in this year’s Art Union is either  a $10,000 kitchen package supplied by Integra Interiors www.integra-interiors.com.au or $3,000 cash supplied by Approved Financial Consulting.  Each family will be issued with one book of 15 $2 tickets.  These tickets have been paid for in your registration fees, so you keep the proceeds of your sales and only need to return the tickets to the Club by the due date.

Small Sided Games Goals

Football Skills Training commences for Junior Players

Starting this Wednesday evening we are commencing some skills sessions hosted by Korey Nix who has spent time as a professional player with Derby County, and Jon Hedge who has spent time as a professional Goalkeeper with Rotherham United.  The attached flyer has all the details.  For further information please contact Mr Brett Ferguson, (Premier League Manager) Phone: 0421 426 897

Mitchelton Football Club Charity Program

The Mitchelton Football Club Charity Program gets into full swing on Friday 23^rd May with a Men’s and Women’s Fashion Spectacular at the Gaythorne RSL.  Our Charity Program is run in conjunction with Approved Financial Consulting www.approvedfinance.com.au and will benefit “Variety the children’s charity” and the Enoggera Respite Centre.  So far this year we have raised over $1,000 from a BBQ at Junior Sign-On weekend and at the Annual Keith Green Golf Classic.

All the details are on the attached flyer.  We are hoping to get 6 people to purchase tickets from each of our Club teams to make the night a success.  Tickets are great value at $15 each and can be purchased through the Club each week night.  If you can’t make it along on the night and would like to make a donation please pass on your donation to one of our

Management Committee members.

School Holiday Clinics

The Mitchelton Football Club will be conducting two School Holidays Clinics at our facilities during the July School Holidays.

In the first week of the School Holidays we will be conducting a Coerver Coaching Course for our Under 6 through to Under 10 ages starting Tuesday 1^st  July and finishing Friday 4^th July.  Sessions will run from 9am to 1pm daily.

In the second week of the School Holidays we will be conducting a Skills Clinic for the Under 11 to Under 16 Age groups hosted by Ian Runcie.  Ian is our Premier League Assistant Coach and has a wealth of experience coaching in the Qld Roar programs along with a Level 1 Coerver Coaching Accreditation.

More information on both the Clinics will be available throughout the week.

Why Everyone Needs a Grand Plan

Approved Financial Consulting in conjunction with K2 Wealth are inviting you a 2 hour free presentation at our Clubhouse facilities to assist you in identifying some of the pitfalls facing your financial success and how to manage them more effectively.  You will learn the major personal and financial risks you face and how you can avoid them.  Guest Speakers for the evening are Len Whittaker and Kent McDonald.

The Presentation will take place next Monday evening from 6pm.  To book a place please phone Paul Campbell on 0404 704 665 or email This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it

Art Union 2008

The 2008 Mitchelton FC Art Union tickets will be distributed to all families in early June with all tickets to be returned by 7.15pm on Saturday 5^th July.  First Prize in this year’s Art Union is either  a $10,000 kitchen package supplied by Integra Interiors www.integra-interiors.com.au or $3,000 cash supplied by Approved Financial Consulting.  Each family will be issued with one book of 15 $2 tickets.  These tickets have been paid for in your registration fees, so you keep the proceeds of your sales and only need to return the tickets to the Club by the due date.

Small Sided Games Goals

The training and game goals are now available for all Under 6, 7 and 8 Age groups.  You will need to sign out the goals for the season with your Age Group Co-ordinator and utilized them for training and games.  The goals can be returned on the final game of the season.

Hello All, I hope the start to the season went well for you. 

Mitchelton Football Club Charity Program

The Mitchelton Football Club Charity Program gets into full swing on Friday 23^rd May with a Men’s and Women’s Fashion Spectacular at the Gaythorne RSL.  Our Charity Program is run in conjunction with Approved Financial Consulting www.approvedfinance.com.au and will benefit “Variety the children’s charity” and the Enoggera Respite Centre.  So far this year we have raised over $1,000 from a BBQ at Junior Sign-On weekend and at the Annual Keith Green Golf Classic.
 

All the details are on the attached flyer.  We are hoping to get 6 people to purchase tickets from each of our Club teams to make the night a success.  Tickets are great value at $15 each and can be purchased through the Club each week night.

Art Union 2008

The 2008 Mitchelton FC Art Union tickets will be distributed to all families in early June with all tickets to be returned by 7.15pm on Saturday 5^th July.  First Prize in this year’s Art Union is either  a $10,000 kitchen package supplied by Integra Interiors www.integra-interiors.com.au or $3,000 cash supplied by Approved Financial Consulting.  Each family will be issued with one book of 15 $2 tickets.  These tickets have been paid for in your registration fees, so you keep the proceeds of your sales and only need to return the tickets to the Club by the due date.

Small Sided Games Goals

The training and game goals are now available for all Under 6, 7 and 8 Age groups.  You will need to sign out the goals for the season with your Age Group Co-ordinator and utilized them for training and games.  The goals can be returned on the final game of the season.

Under 6 Small Sided Games this Saturday night at Mitchie

This Saturday night is our first SSG Exhibition with the Under 6 teams playing their games on a Saturday evening on the No.1 field at 5.45pm before the Premier League game against Peninsula.  We are very keen to promote our junior players with our Senior players and this initiative will be followed in the coming weeks with the Under 7s involved on Saturday 14^th June and the Under 8s on Saturday 21^st June.  Please come along and have a look at our Under 6s in action this Saturday night followed by our Premier League team at 6.30pm.

Please note:

All games at Mitchelton are cancelled for this Saturday and a decision on Sunday's games will be made tomorrow. 

Mitchelton FC is teaming up with Coerver Coaching to introduce the Coerver model throughout our Club to our Coaches and Players.

We are hosting the introductory course at our Clubhouse this Saturday. If you would like to put your name forward to attend this course please let me know as soon as possible.

The Club is covering the cost of the course for you.

Click here for more details. (pdf file)

The Mitchelton Football Club’s Annual Golf Day will be held next Sunday at Keperra Golf Club.  Please click the link below to see all the details.  If you would like to enter a team please contact us asap.

Annual Golf Day 2008 (pdf file)  

Senior Game Fixtures for this weekend (29/30 March 2008) :

[Click image for full size version]

I hope you are all enjoying the start to the new season.  This time of year is the busiest time for us all, having to co-ordinate all the players into teams, appoint Coaches & Managers & Ground Officials, ensure we have all of our facilities ready, and have our players registered to play for the first game.  Our registration numbers are strong again and we look forward to another big season.  The fixtures for the season are attached.  The Under 18 Division 2 has had some late changes and will be finalised soon.

Tonight’s Premier and Reserve Games

The Reserves are playing Pine Hills at 6.30pm and the Premier League are playing Pine Rivers at 8.30pm.  Both games are at Pine Hills, Jinker Track, Bunya.

Metro and Under 18 games this Saturday

The Metro and Under 18s have games at Pine Hills tomorrow, Saturday 23 February.  Both games kick off at 3pm.

Wet Weather Procedure for Training

Training for the Senior teams will always be on, no matter the weather conditions.  If we can’t train on the fields an indoor session will be organised.

First Premier League home game Saturday 1 March vs. Brisbane Strikers

Our Premier League Senior team will play their first home game of the season next Saturday night against the Brisbane Strikers at 6.30pm.  Earlier games on that day are Under 18s at 12 noon, Metros at 2pm, Premier Reserves at 4pm.  We have invited the Brisbane Strikers Under 10 teams to compete in a mini carnival in the afternoon as well.  More details to follow.

Gaythorne RSL Membership

Membership of the Mitchelton Sports Club entitles you to free membership of the Gaythorne RSL.  Once we have concluded registrations we will send our Member information to the RSL and they will process your member cards and send directly to you.

Steve Jones Hardware and Landscape Customer Cards

Steve Jones will again be producing Customer (discount) cards for each of our families within the Club.  Cards will be provided to each team Manager from the first week of competition in late March.

Zonefresh Gourmet Market Loyalty Cards

Zonefresh Gourmet Markets will be producing Loyalty Cards for each family within the Club and these will be distributed along with the Steve Jones Cards.   Zonefresh have their businesses locally at Windsor, The Gap and Strathpine.  Each time you use their Card a small rebate will be returned to our Club.  The rebate will be used by our Club to further encourage healthy eating initiatives at Mitchie.

Auditor Needed

If anyone in the Club is a qualified Auditor and is willing to Audit our Financial Statements please make contact with me.

Linemarking

We are seeking the services of someone to mark our fields each week.  This would suit someone who is looking for about 4 to 5 hours work per week.  The position is paid.  Please contact me for more details.

Canteen Convener & Staff

We are seeking the services of staff willing to work in our Canteen each weekend throughout the season.  Shifts are from 4 to 8 hours.  Previous experience is preferable.  Positions are paid.  Please contact me for more details.

"The Mitchie Midgets Program" for 3 and 4 year olds has taken off at Mitchelton Football Club with over 30 children registering to play this weekend.

The program is designed to introduce both the participants and the parents to the game, skills and rules of football. The emphasis is on fun and learning new skills. Parents will be encouraged to be involved in the training sessions, which will be held once per week (on a Tuesday night) for an hour between 5.30pm and 6.30pm.

The participants won't be broken into teams or have a regular Coach.
The Mitchie Midgets will be one big group and be exposed to a number of different coaches and learning's. However, there will be a heavy focus on teaching a small number of core skills.

The Program is designed to be non-contact and will commence on Tuesday 26 February.

Please click the links below to see the Premier League Fixtures for 2008 (pdf format):

2008 Premier League Fixtures  

2008 Premier League Reserves Fixtures

2008 Premier Youth Fixtures  

2008 Metro 4 Fixtures

2008 Youth Division 2 Fixtures

Please click the link below to view the FFA Small Sided Games Handbook.

<click here>  

Premier League trials begin tonight Tuesday 4^th December and continue on Thursday night, then each Tuesday and Thursday through to Christmas.  A full program of information will be available at training tonight.

Training will commence at 6.30pm. 

What to bring:

Mitchie sponsored training shirt;

Boots;

Sandshoes;  and

Your own water bottle.

Coaching contact details are as follows: Iain Fagan 0438 735 089, Ian Runcie 0403 649 869, Paul Molenda 0419 707 657.

See you there

Kind Regards
Rohan Cassell
President
Mitchelton Sports Club

Here's a couple of photo's of the progress so far with the new field that will be used for our Under 11s, 12s and 13s games.  The field dimensions will be 90m x 45m.  The laying of turf will be complete later this week, come down and have a look sometime.  The Management Committee of Mitchelton Sports Club has used the profits from last season's Art Union and other profits to pay for the renovation.  The total cost of this project is $36,000.  We have also authorised approximately $15,000 worth of renovation and maintenance work on Field 1 and fields 3 and 4 to be completed this week.

Meeting to Update last season's Under 14s, Under 15s and Under 17s on changes for the 2008 season - Wednesday 28 November 6.30pm

This information session will update players and families on the 2008 Junior Representative Program and changes to the Divisional structure.   Hamburgers will be provided compliments of Zonefresh Gourmet Markets and Food Strategy.  Thanks to Sam Mangano and Robbie Green.  Please confirm numbers to your 2007 team manager or coach asap and then contact me or Pedr Kilpatrick on 0435 036 003.

First of all, thank you for your patience with our Management team while we went through the selection of our Coaching staff for the 2008 Premier League season.  This has been a lengthy and arduous process and we are now pleased to announce the following coaching appointments for the 2008 season:

Premier League Coach - Iain Fagan

Many of you will be aware of Iain's history with the Mitchelton Football Club.  He was a junior at our Club and is a member of our Team of the Century. He has coached our Senior team on two occasions winning the League and Grand Final double on one occasion.  Iain's playing achievements include representing Australia at Under 23 level and playing in the National League for both Brisbane City and Brisbane Lions.  Iain has also coached at Premier League/State League level with North Star, Brisbane City and Grange Thistle with enormous success.  Iain has been most recently coaching successful junior teams at Mitchie

Premier League Assistant - Ian Runcie

Ian is new to our Club having most recently been Director of Coaching at Narangba Football Club and as a Development Officer with Queensland Roar.  Ian has played State League in Queensland, Victoria and Western Australia and coached at Premier League level with Grange Thistle, North Brisbane and on the Gold Coast.

Premier Reserves Coach - Paul Molenda

Paul coached our Premier Youth team in 2005 and has coached at Senior Level on the Central Coast of New South Wales.  Paul has also coached Senior Youth teams at Grange Thistle and Taringa Rovers.

We welcome these Coaching appointments and feel confident that we will have a successful and enjoyable 2008.

The Premier Youth competition has had a rule change lowering the maximum age to 18 years of age.  So next season players can only be 18 years, during the year, or below.  We are still seeking an Under 18 Coach, so if anyone would like to put their name forward please do so as soon as possible.

Following our Coaching appointments we have called a meeting of all players, their families and any supporters for this Wednesday evening at 8pm.  This meeting at our Clubhouse will outline our Coaching structure, pre-season calendar, season calendar and a range of player initiatives that will be introduced for the 2008 season.  This meeting will last approximately 45 minutes.

Our pre-season will commence as usual during December, so there is no change from the previous four seasons.

We will hold our first meeting this Tuesday night at 7.45pm.  Anyone interested in taking part in the Football Committee is asked to make it along to our Clubhouse then.

Meeting to Update last season's Under 14s, Under 15s and Under 17s on changes for the 2008 season - Wednesday 28 November 6.30pm

This information session will update players and families on the 2008 Junior Representative Program and changes to the Divisional structure.  Hamburgers will be provided compliments of Zonefresh Gourmet Markets and Food Strategy.  Thanks to Sam Mangano and Robbie Green.  You will need to confirm numbers to your 2007 team manager or coach by Monday 26 November.

Work has begun on a total field renovation for fields 3 and 4, to the right of our Clubhouse (looking out from the front of our Clubhouse).  Most of the renovation should be completed by the end of this week, with the turf to be laid early next week.  This field will be turned into a full sized field for the Under 11, Under 12 and Under 13 age groups.