After several months of absorbing all the club input and providing inclusion during the entire process, weighing up the information from all areas including;
- Deliberation via meetings with NFNL, Club Presidents, Administrators and Confidants.
- My own self-assessment of the clubs current position based on recruitment, retention and future prospects.
- Constant and consistent communication with all areas of the clubs playing and coaching group.
- Advice from inner & outer interests / connections including sponsors and life members
I have reached the conclusion that I, as President, need to provide a SINGLE MINDED DIRECTION towards the immediate future of the Lalor Bloods Football Club.
My thought process has surrounded three key areas that i feel is ultimately causing the uncertainty amongst the group;
- Stability
- Assurance
- Development
But overall – We need to base our next steps on a realistic view point of what we will look like as a club across the next 6-7 months, what pressures will come our way between rounds 3-8, the disruption that could present to the competition… not just for the players and the clubs but our overall commercial reality including sponsors, sales and attendance.
How our club will be viewed through this period and what this season could do to the BLOODS brand, players confidence and subsequent development / recruitment / retention.
We will be in and out of each other’s lives more often than not across the season and heaping more anxiety on the clubs current position would be irresponsible.
The below is not a suggestion or debate, it will be presented to the NFNL on Monday the 26th of February and will subsequently put to rest much of the discussion surrounding the year ahead.
The proposed direction will be as follows for season 2018…
- Lalor will request to compete in the D3 competition
- Lalor will substitute the “bye” with Round 1 being Laurimar
- Lalor will enter into a “Match Permit Partnership” with (other) clubs outside of the D3 competition where by players can transfer on a “week by week” basis if required – Details to be presented Thursday, March 1
- Our priority is to secure 60 LALOR registered players so we don’t need to utilise the option above.
- “Match Permit Players” will only be eligible to top-up our our reserve grade (senior opportunity will only exist for LALOR registered players)
- We will play a practice match against Diamond Creek on Thursday, March 8 at Sydney Cres. This is confirmed and is a terrific gesture by DCFC in an attempt to offer us an opportunity to raise funds and awareness.
- By March 9, 11.45am we will aim to have the following;
- 50 Paid social members (TeamApp)
- 40 Pre-paid (new) jumpers (TeamApp)
- 25 Player Sponsors / Red & White Knights
- 50 Registered players (This factors long-term injuries and part time players)
The above is a benchmark we need to reach in order to support the direction proposed to the NFNL and our internal measurements.
We ALL need to share, share, share the above KPI’s and methods of payment are available at
www.lalorfnc.com.au, this will help us as a club separate the “noise” from the “commitment”.
Own the next 2 weeks, it is OUR fate not history’s sake that will keep the honour boards filling up in the Sydney Cres. social rooms.
If this is enticing, exciting and offers the clarity we are all looking for we will see you Tuesday and/or Thursday – This is the training schedule we will be progressing with throughout pre-season.
My gut tells me this will assist us in making that 25-30 players become 40-45 fairly quickly and if not, we have lost nothing other than exhausting the final option i see available.
As a collective, we have done EVERYTHING (and more) to retain a stable second division club over the past 6 months and honestly, the option above is the last resort but, it will allow us to develop and build the culture that’s required for success in todays local football landscape.
Without the effort of turning over every stone before announcing this, we couldn’t have considered self-relegation with our heads held high or pride intact.
LALOR WILL BE OPEN FOR BUSINESS AND REQUESTING TO PLAY IN D3 2018… FINAL.
Location
24 Sydney Cres Lalor
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