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2010 President's Message Lucille Abate |
2010 proved to be a monumental period for our club, celebrating 50 years of delivering soccer leagues and programmes to the Newmarket Community. Our founding fathers, Jim Richardson and Reg Randall would be proud to see how this club has evolved from a single boy’s team in 1960 operating through their garages at the corner of Davis Drive and Main Street.
Yours truly,
Their good work was continued through the late sixties and early seventies by Joe Southall, Len Cole and Les Davey. In 1977, the NSC fielded, for the first time, 10 competitive teams in the new Region of York Inter District Soccer League operated through the “Region of York Youth Soccer Association” and hosted its first competitive tournament, the Magna International Invitational Labour Day Tournament. Registration fees in 1977 were as follows: $12.00 for one boy, $22.00 for two boys or $30.00 for three boys, with a late fee of $3.00. This was the first year that the club wore the town crest and colours on their uniforms. Enrollment in 1979 hit an all time high of 600 players representing 39 house league teams. Another first in 1979 was the introduction of 4 girl’s teams.
A lot has changed since 1979! Last season, we fielded approximately 269 house league teams and 39 competitive teams involving both male and female players. Although we have made much progress, the club began to lobby for indoor facilities back in 1977, for competitive team and coaches training. They felt, at that time, that competitive teams needed to practice 12 months of the year. With our indoor facility becoming reality early next year, we will be fulfilling a goal that was put in place over 30 years ago. Much thanks to Ross Abate and Garth Baxter for all their efforts, hard work and very long, unpaid, hours that have been devoted to this project.
With the approval of our Trillium Grant in July, we will be receiving $255,000 over 24 months for equipment and staff for our indoor facility, which has been instrumental in offsetting these costs in our budget.
Our move over to the Magna Centre was anticipated to be a positive step forward for our club, decentralizing our administration from our warehouse facilities. Unfortunately, due to the confusion and frustration voiced by many of our members, were forced to look for a location to amalgamate our warehouse and office. We have a great club house at 611 Steven Court as this facility will accommodate of all of our requirements in the near future and allow us to service our membership more efficiently.
In April, we enjoyed another Newmarket Soccer Club Day at the Toronto FC. Although we traditionally sell this event out, due to the poor weather forecasted, many decided to stay home. Our players enjoyed the privileges of being player escorts, flag bearers and fan tunnel participants. There was much fun to be had by all, and these memories will last a lifetime.
Although we experienced some shortfalls in our House League division, we trust the revisions we have proposed for the positions on our Board will allow for more volunteers to come forward to give a bit of their time. Our Directors donate massive amounts of personal, professional and family time to our club in an effort to deliver a well organized and enjoyable season for all coaches, players and parents. At times, even with the best of intentions, errors do occur and frustration begins to compound. The revisions to the Board will facilitate smaller workloads for more people. With more people performing specific functions, we forecast a more successful season for us all. If you can donate a couple of hours per week for your child’s division, please come forward and help!
Through our end of season division meetings, our Director’s have received many suggestions for improvement, and most will be adopted as we move forward in our planning for the 2011 season.
Our competitive division enjoyed another very successful season. Our U18 Girls were CGSL division champions, ending their season without losing a game; our U16 Girls were CGSL division champions earning promotion for 2011; and our U10 White Girls were YRSL A division champions. On the boys side, our U14 Boys A team earned top spot in their CSL division promoting them for next season, with others placing close to the top of their divisions.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank each and every member of our Board for their loyalty, dedication, and countless hours of hard work this past season.
Being a volunteer Director is a thankless job, with volunteers becoming scarcer. With the economy and busy lifestyles many simply do not have the time to commit to an organization that demands as much work as ours does. There is no monetary reward, no pat on the back for a job well done, and it is becoming increasingly difficult to meet the demands of a growing membership and expectations of better services and programmes. I encourage all of you who have the passion and commitment to step forward, lend us your expertise and help us to continue to move this club forward. With the addition of League Managers for every age group in our recreational league, a small amount of time will go a long way in helping the league be more accurate and organized.
Thank you very much for all of your support throughout this past season, and look forward to an very prosperous new season! See you all on the pitch.
Lucille Abate
President
