President’s Report
Welcome to the Queenstown Associated Football Club Annual General Meeting for the year of 2021

As President I acknowledge the excellent work of all our other committee members.

Ian Collin our Vice President who gave me much advice and guidance during my first full year as President.

Carly Blackbourn who is titled Secretary but who does much more than secretarial work and organises virtually everything.

Jamie Whitmarsh and Steve Henderson who are two of the most knowledgeable people in the country about everything football in both junior and senior spheres.

Sally Marriage who has been excellent support in her first full year as Treasurer.

Tua Hollebon who makes a big contribution in the junior sphere.

And finally, Deborah Husheer our excellent Grants Coordinator. Unfortunately Deb will be leaving the committee shortly and I would to take this opportunity to thank her for her great work in this vitally important role.

My thanks also go to many other unnamed helpers like our coaches, home day helpers, parents who support our home day success with their time and baking skills. Without these people it is difficult to run the club successfully. They are the lifeblood of our great club and they go about their business without guidance or prompting and without any thought of gratitude.

Senior and Junior 2021 Season

Senior Football has again had challenges outside our control. This year has seen a record number of training sessions cancelled due to bad weather and waterlogged pitches and this has had a detrimental effect on our match day performances.

Our senior men’s first team slipped to sixth in the Football South Premier League though our young reserves had a creditable result by finishing seventh in the eleven team Central Otago League. Our Ladies team also had credible results by finishing fourth in the Football South Premier Ladies League.

This year for the first time we provided the majority of players for the under 14 and under 16 Central Otago teams who competed in the newly formed Football South Development Leagues. Whilst it was hard going for our teams, it provided great experience for our players.
I would like to acknowledge the time, hard work and effort put in by our coaches of these teams – Jamie Whitmarsh (men’s first team), Steve Henderson (men’s reserves), Mark Ford (Ladies), Gavin MaCauliffe (FSDL under 16), and Mick Moffatt (FSDL under 14).

The boys and girls in our junior teams again performed with distinction in the local competition and they were strongly supported by many parents and relatives. One disappointment for us was that we had to cancel one of our home days due to bad weather. A major blow though was that the majority of tournaments into which we had entered teams were cancelled due to Covid.

Other Business

I am happy to report that financially 2021 was a good year (as was 2020) despite Covid and our funds are in good order. Clearly though we need to work hard to ensure that this continues. The details of the 2021 financial results will be produced shortly. This year our website has been upgraded very significantly and I am pleased to report that next year there will be another significant improvement. We have engaged ‘Friendly Manager’ which will see improvements in the registration process and will allow coaches to communicate directly with their players as well as many other benefits. Additionally I can report that we have invested in a VEO camera and software. This will allow us to fully film games and provide feedback to players. Initially this will be used in the senior space but once we see the full capability of this system it will also be used in the junior space.

This year has seen a very collegiate approach within the committee and I hope to see this continue.

Sponsorship

Sponsorship is vital to any sports organization and it is vital that we keep good relations with our current sponsors and that we explore new revenue streams. I would like to thank all our current sponsors:
Colliers International, Dowling Construction Development, Dominator Garage Doors, QUBE Construction Cost Managers, Bella Casa Tiling, Stirling Sports, Bidfood, Queenstown Lakes District Council, New Zealand Racing Board and The Southern Trust.

On a personal note, having now completed my first full year as President, I would like to thank everybody involved in the club for making me feel very welcome and giving me much support. I hope to be able to continue to be involved with the club for many years to come.

Phil Ingham
President