Date 22 October 2010

Hi parents & players,

SMFC are at the final stages of our planning for the 2011 season.

Important Dates

· Coaching reviews/appointments will be concluded at the end of October
· Trials for 2011 will begin the weekend of Saturday 6th & Sunday 7th November at the artificial
grounds at Albert Park (times per age group, below). They will be conducted over 3 weekends.
· The appointed coach of the age group, SMFC Football Director & SMFC senior coaches will be
overseeing the trials.
· Final player Registrations will be complete by the 4th & 5th December. Forms & payments have to be in by this date. After the 5th Dec players on the waiting lists will be invited to join.
· Pre-season training will start early February 2011 (exact date to be advised)

November Trials

U7s 7th Nov & 13th Nov 10am Information Session & matches
U9s 7th Nov & 13th Nov 11am Information Session & matches
U11s 7th Nov & 13th Nov 12:30pm-2pm Information Session & Trials
U12s 7th Nov & 13th Nov 2pm-3:30pm Information Session & Trials
U13s 6th Nov & 14th Nov 10am-11:30am Information Session & Trials
U14s 6th Nov & 14th Nov 11:30am – 1pm Information Session & Trials
U15s 6th Nov 4:30pm – 6pm Other sessions to be advised shortly
U16s 6th Nov 1:30pm- 3pm Other sessions to be advised shortly
U18s 6th Nov 3pm- 4:30pm Other sessions to be advised shortly

2011 Registration Fees

Under 7s (aged 5-7): 1 training session (Saturday) and game on Saturday $490
Under 9s (aged 7-9): 2 training session (Wed & Saturday) and game on Saturday $590
Under 11’s (aged 9-11): 2 training sessions (Wed & Saturday) and 1 Sunday match $590
Under 12s - U18s 2 training sessions (To be advised) and 1 Sunday match $790

Items included in fees:

- Season 2011 Junior Membership with South Melbourne Football Club
- SMFC jersey, shorts, socks.
· For U7 to U11 includes: 1 strip, 1 rain jacket, bag, trophy and bennie
· For U12 to U18 includes: 2 strips (1 home & 1 away), bag, trophy and rain jacket
- Payments made to FFV (includes insurance), fully qualified coaches, council rental of grounds/pavilion,
training equipment, marking of grounds, referee fees, payment of utility charges (electricity costs)


Australian National Champions 1984/1991/1998/1999
FIFA Club World Championships 2000
Oceania Club Champions 1999
National League Cup 1990/1996
Victorian State League Champions
1962/1964/1965/1966/1972/1974/1976/2006
South Melbourne FC
South Melbourne Football Club Ltd.
ABN 32 102 241 252
Bob Jane Stadium, 25 Albert Road Drive
Albert Park Victoria 3206, Australia
Telephone (03) 9645 9797, Facsimile (03) 9645 9796
Postal address: PO Box 1349, South Melbourne Vic 3205
Email: admin@smfc.com.au
Website: www.smfc.com.au

Our new Albert Park facilities will be coming on stream shortly.
Albert park grass fields will be ready late Nov. Our trials are booked on the Albert Park artificial grounds early Nov.

Our Albert Park Pavilion is half finished & should be ready in December.

Our Princess Park Pavilion & grounds will house our U7s-U12s next winter season. These teams will train and play their home matches there.
Outside of the winter season, all teams will play practice games, tournaments and preseason training
at Albert Park.

A few of the initiatives done this season:
1. We fielded 16 teams with great on field successes. An extra 100 more players than the
previous years
2. To develop & provide greater competition, we pushed up to a higher age group our: 13s, 14s, 15s, 16s,
3. Presented our Junior club financials to our Junior Team Managers. We went through line item by line item, every expense & every revenue dollar generated this season. We are a non for profit organisation run by volunteers. All revenue goes back to hiring grounds/coaches/buying
equipment/uniforms etc. I can report that our Junior Club has balanced its books and all
financials have been sent to the club's accounting auditors.
4. Sent and paid for 10 coaches to gain or advance their Coaching accreditation. All our junior
SMFC coaches are FFV accredited.
5. Obtained our club’s ACE accreditation (a FFV quality assurance program)
6. We conducted player and coaches assessments
7. We conducted the first ever SMFC Club Survey to assist us in improving our club next season & beyond.

As of today Oliver Schulze (one of this season’s U15 coaches) will be taking up the role of Youth Manager for all our U7-U12 teams. Oliver will be working with Coaches & Team Managers to drive the SMFC curriculum for these age groups and managing the holiday clinics earmarked at our Caulfield & Albert Park facilities. He will also be coaching one of our Junior teams. Together with our Football Director Ange Dallas and senior coaching panel, he will be overseeing our clubs football curriculum. I am sure his many years of experience will assist SMFC greatly.

We all look forward to a successful football season in 2011 and I hope to see you all at the trials in November.

Regards

SMFC



Edited by chris: 27/10/2010 12:14:46 AM

hmmm.

Lololol. I reckon.

Ridiculously overpriced.

Actually one of the cheaper price ranges in Melb

Not sure how this compares with other states

All coaches are fully qualified and accredited - our standard rythm is the equivalent to what other clubs call accrediship standard

100 new juniors this year and planning for an additional 100 next year

Worst performing team in all junior age groups finished third

Edited by chris: 27/10/2010 10:55:10 AM

I played my youth ages (12-17) with an ex-NSL club in NSW in the NSW Premier Youth League or what ever its called now and the most i ever paid for the year was $250.

Edited by da640: 27/10/2010 11:16:51 AM

I'd be checking that one up.

When my daughter played at Marconi as an U12 (approx 4-5 years ago) the prices then was from memory close to $700 with nothing left to pay later.
Add up the standard rego fees and amount per game to pay refs etc and it aint that bad especially if the club was as professionaly run as Marconi

If you want quality then it comes at a cost presuming quality will be provided

I can understand why clubs want to charge those prices, but that's pretty much extortion. If it's simply that much for a trial that is absolutely ridiculous.

Wait... are those costs just to trial?

Nah can't be Mini heh.. Gotta be for the whole season seeing as though it mentions the training days etc.

Oh right. The registration fee's are fair then. These days, most NSWPL and Super League Clubs are about the $1000 mark.

But don't you want these good kids to play for you?

I play rugby over here (in NZ) and if you're good, outfits bend over backwards just to get you to play for their team.

Nah overhere, if you're not playing in Reserves or Firsts, you pay a lot of money...

And here in lies the major problem in our game. No player should have to pay these exorbitant fees to play football. Youth development in this country will never be at the level it should be until the best players get the best coaching for free.

Absolutely correct, no denying it. Until the money comming into the game gets to grassroots rather than grassroots giving money to elite or top end.

Yes, but remember how are these Clubs meant to survive without paying these sort of fee's for Youth League? The job to develop players has been left on State League Clubs, but what kind of backing do these Clubs get from the FFA? Next to nothing.

Edited by Minimalistix: 30/10/2010 09:12:48 AM

Criminal prices right there.

Where?

Surely souvlaki hut is kicking in enough money to reduce these costs :d What about that kit home sponsor SM have, surely a bit of money from that??

Chris ,
out of interest in studying youth football can you answer the following :

What is the success rate for identifying a player at u7 and for them to go all the way to the first team ?
How many of the current senior teams came through the system ?
How do you id talent and not just the players who are more biologically advanced ?

Nice lying Chris, Firstly, Green Gully is cheaper fees, with $600, and other clubs are $475 (Good Junior clubs with not so good seniors)

Chris, im greek, and everyone knows that South Melbourne is no longer what it was.

double post -----see below

Edited by chris: 2/11/2010 03:53:28 PM

What am I lying about?

What is the angle regarding you being greek?

I am also a Greek Australian and I don't give a fuck that you are Greek

smfc is not what it was - it is far more pregressive today

Please specify your comments more clearly - happy to be criticised - unhappy when criticism is just stone throwing without reason

Yeah Hellas are not what they use to be....

This year they have just been recognised as a Fifa Club of the Century and played in the Singapore Cup.

Not very impressive at all...

We're talking about the Junior system here at South, and why it's costing a lot of money.

You'll find that South's junior fees are in line with most of the elite type junior setups.

You can find cheaper and you can find more expensive.

While if you seek out more recreational type Clubs you will pay significantly less but you take pot luck on coaching standards and equipment.

Two issue driving the cost of junior fees higher in Melbourne are the amount of give aways (that you actually pay for) and the cost of paying good coaches.

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: trying to 'justify' the scam :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: trying to get kids to pay $700 a season because of some self-proclaimed advert that "we've got the best coaches" :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: f..king scammers :lol: :lol: :lol:

Edited by diego's son: 3/11/2010 05:22:12 PM

I was going to write a lot but really not worth it.

nevermind diego...if you read his posts on the ground redevelopment you would know he aint worth it:lol:

I knew what you meant Arthur. And yes it isnt worth it.=d> =d>

F..k off mate, I've heard full well what SMFC was like to deal with about the money for the ground upgrade, and what their demands were. Just because you don't like it doesn't mean it can't be heard.

I'm still laughing at the rate for the juniors, $700 based on self-proclaimed "good coaching". It's a scam, whether you admit it or not.

:-({|=

Edited by Arthur: 4/11/2010 02:46:23 PM

Say what you like - but kids are lining up

FFV - ACE and FFA accredited - first club to achieve this also

this club is not "Made in China"

expect 100% retention from last years squad also - it must really hurt you to see smfc kicking goals

Edited by chris: 4/11/2010 03:50:01 PM

It's not a scam. It's a service on offer for a price. You can opt to pay the price, or you can opt for someone else's services. A free market.

The question you need to ask is, if the prices are unfairly high, why are so many parents lining up to send kids to SMFC rather than any other club?

And if the standard is so low, why do the SMFC teams finish so high in their leagues, and why are they so often disproportianately represented in the State squad selections?

Of course, you can't opt to send your kids to train with Melbourne Victory, because they've only been around for a mere 5 1/2 years and haven't yet found the time to establish a youth set-up.

Stop worrying about what our clubs ARE doing, and worry about what yours AREN'T.

Keep dreaming.

Victory is only a few years old, South had over 45 years to get it right from top to bottom and still it couldn't pull an average of over 10,000 per season consistently over a five year period.

Good to see you draw the line with your comment on the last line, but as I like your style I don't want to comment further.

The fact is that there are good things and bad in both the old clubs and the new franchises - if both could adopt the positive points of the other, we'd all be a lot better off.

I genuinely believe SMFC (and others) are moving in the right direction, forced perhaps by the way the system is now set up. It riles me though that one of the few, if not the only, club to have it's youth system fully accredited by both the FFV and FFA, and one that prides itself on investing all proceeds from the junior set-up back into the junior set-up (whilst many other clubs use it as a cash-cow), etc., should be berated for charging fees in line with many other clubs.

As for Socceroos coming through - the system at SMFC has ramped up dramatically in the last few years, quality is rising all the time. Many of the best players coming through the system are now being 'poached' by the NTC, a sure sign that we're moving in the right direction.

As I said, nothing is gained by berating a side for something they are doing... The criticism should be directed at those who aren't doing anything.

As for Victory only being a few years old... They have 5 years as the one and only A-League side in the state and they failed to set up anything beyond the mandatory youth league squad - and they don't even pay for that (you seem to have your ear to the ground, so you'll already know that the MVFC youth squad is funded by the FFV, from fees earned off the 'traditional' clubs). Not enough time is not an excuse after 5 years. It should have been mandatory for any side joining the A-League to have teams at state level from U10-U16, and at national level for U18. But no... Planning for the future is apparently too expensive.

Yep good call Diego, South should NOT be trying to get a good deal for itself.

Numpty:lol:

Yep you can only get it right by averaging 10,000:roll:

Fine line between fair negotiation between pub,ic and private parties and being considered pricks in the construction industry. That's why Italians are the chief builders in this town. There's no "Grollopoulos" or "Baulderstone Hornibokopoulos" around town is there?

you are a waste of time - spend your energy in building something rather than burning down someone else's

Edited by chris: 6/11/2010 06:45:05 PM

Strangely, there's also no Italian football club of note in town either...

I take it that Sth Melbourne are not interested in small sided games for juniors?

The juniors system/academy is endorsed by the FFA, which requires small sided games as part of it's curriculum, so I'd assume small sided games are part of the program.

Surely they are not charging that amount of money for small sided games.

I don’t want to knock Sth Melbourne, but I am just interested to how they justify that money on 5,6 & 7 year olds…? It seems a lot for one training session and a game on the weekend?

How transparant is the accounting ? is all the money raised from youth players spent on youth football or is some siphoned off for first team players 'expenses'

As far as I know, the money raised from youth football stays with youth football, and has done so for several years. Up until late 2009 SMFC and SMJFC were technically affiliates of the parent social club, SMHSC (it was a complex arrangement done made years ago for several reasons). One of the assurances that had to be made as part of the process of re-unifying the disparate parts of the club was that junior money stayed in the junior program.

I would like peoples opinions on the FFV's Zone fees for VCL whic can cost $500 for a 12 week season.

Ah, but Arthur, you forget two key factors...

1 - the FFV are not an evil ethnic organisation, out to screw all the good people out of their hard earned...

2 - the FFV have to charge these high fees in order to pay legal fees from various failed court cases they have been involved with against their own members.

I'm not sure what the situation is with the little ones, all I know is that everything is accredited by the FFA, so they are obviously happy with things the way they are.

Cheeky:)

\

Western charge me $450. But last year they charged me $600! So there going down.

Lot of complaints made to FFV about Western Wolves and they (Zone Clubs) have to submit fees to FFV for approval now.

That's a copout Ben and you know it. "the FFA must be happy", as you stated above, does not give South the right to charge kids families $700.

After only the 1st week of Trials - new sign up registrations are already confirming a substantial increase in numbers this year already

Synthetic pitches extremely popular with juniors and parents

We even had the nucleus of a whole team from a particular age group in a neighboring suburb join up - coach is fully accredited and runs his own acedamy - brought his squad with him due to lack of fascility in their previous club

Also I am happy to advise that in addition to the Lakeside precinct with a brand new double storey pavillion and junior social rooms - smfc will also have a campus comprisong of a full size pitch and up to four small sided pitches and pavillion at south caulfield for additional small sided teams - retention of this fascility means the club is now a leader in its category offering a multi premise proposal in the south east region

This is the embryo of the club's vision - allowing it to further expand the smfc banner whilst offering affordable football excellence opportunity and community involvement across multiple premises in Melbourne...may this trend continue to expand

smfc becoming more than a club.....smfc becoming "a system"


Edited by chris: 10/11/2010 05:37:21 PM

i don't know much about it but at face value those prices seem fairly reasonable to me. Priced high enough to make sure time wasters are excluded but also affordable for the average family.

Any idea what is happening with the womems team?

Saw them training out at princess park last week, Alan Davidson is coaching them:shock:

good question

I believe there is negotiation at the moment as we speak - 1st option is always a suitable resolution for all parties

my understanding is that the girls want to be a branch of the club but an independent body - the club wants the whole brand under the 1 umbrella

Also interesting that we now have 2 sets of smfc womens representation

nice summary Joffa - in any industry - regardless if its a need or a service - quality does cost more - but in smfc's case - you get a premium product/experience at an affordable price

Without wasting more time on this, nice sell job Chris, hope you can find a sucker to cough that up. I wouldn't.

Fair enough. I just find it expensive for that age group is all.

Wonder how the FFA would view a club like Sth Melbourne running their own small sided game comps, using senior players (or even under 18’s over seen by senior coaches) as coaches. Charge a much smaller fee and run it all in house, no trails but open to anyone interested. Would certainly help young players connect with the club (etc) and can help coach a ‘style’ into younger players

I could see great benefits in this, but could also see the FFA or Vic Federation hating it.


Edited by Keyser Söze: 11/11/2010 12:25:16 PM

Pretty sure South ran futsal competitions open to all over the last few seasons. Not sure if they're doing it this year due to the stadium situation.

no one is forcing you to#-o

Just noticed the thread. Good God, Diego, you're looking for opportunity to criticise for the sake of criticism.

You appear surprised by the rego fees, so it leads me to ask what experience you have had personally with state league club's youth systems and from what position of personal knowledge you're basing the criticism? Played yourself or have a son/daughter that has?

Are you attempting to insinuate that state league clubs provide nothing more than a local grade can and the higher fees are therefore unjustified?

I'm in NSW and my son went through the state league system from 14 years of age. The step up from his previous club in the on and off pitch professionalism, organisation and support, as well as the jump in coaching/training quality, were huge.

The rego fees were around about what is quoted in this thread and that was 10 years ago.
However, there were always 100's of parents lining at trials ready and willing to pay for a chance at participating in the far superior set up. Why? Because, by a long shot, it was one of the best available youth development opportunities in the region.

And while Australian football's funding is provided from the bottom to the top, unlike other codes that have top down funding, clubs and parents will have to foot the full extent of the bill.

Edited by skeptic: 18/11/2010 12:41:43 PM

Arthur,
How did the trials finish up. Many kids, will SMFC play a big role at junior level this season?

I have no idea to be honest, SMFC usually haves strong junior teams.