Notes from the weekend of February 22nd-23rd

On Saturday I made my way out to the newly refurbished Broadmeadows Valley Park, in order to watch us have our first match (correction - 2nd NPL friendly, we have already had a 0-0 result against Thunder, as noted by one of our readers) against NPL opposition during this pre-season. The match finished 1-1, with Lujic I believe scoring from a goalmouth scramble in the first half, while Hume equalised in the second half from one of those mishit crosses that ends up going in at the back post. Both sides had some OK chances. I felt we we were the better team in the first half, while the game was more even in the second, as both teams shuffled around their lineups.

During the second half, Lujic had a penalty saved, the second time this pre-season he has failed to score from the penalty spot. After the farce that was last year's penalty taking situation against Gully, where no one wanted to take the penalty against in the finals, it might be nice to sort out once and for all who's the designated penalty taker. Also, at some point have to figure out who's taking our free kicks, since it looks like Nicky Soolsma ain't coming back.

The new facility at Broadmeadows Valley Park is quite nice, with a few caveats. The grandstand, while a nice addition, has very limited seating, which wouldn't ordinarily be a problem with Hume's crowds except for the fact that sight-lines from most other parts of the ground are very poor. Still, a small grandstand is better than no grandstand.

The field, too, looks in good condition, and after chatting with one of the locals it appears as if there are plans to put some new lights in at the main ground as well, with the possibility that they may consider playing night matches.

Buggered if I can remember where I stole this team sheet from.

Shepparton Shenanigans
So, Shepparton South had a big day planned for this event. How did it all turn out? Well, to cut to the chase, we lost 4-3. I'm really regretting not having made the trip out there now, even with the appalling public transport situation; nor for having done my due diligence on this, by reading this article from back in very early January. Check out the name of that trophy for starters..

Shaun Kelly out for 2-3 months
It looks like central defender Shaun Kelly will be missing a good chunk of the 2014 season, if not all of it, after having surgery on a foot ligament injury last week. So combined with Bryan Bran leaving for the Netherlands, and the uncertainty of the left back position, it appears as if only Tim Mala at right back will be a certainty of last year's back four to be playing in his position. Nominally at least, Dimi Tsiaras can play in a defensive role, and Brad Norton might get to hold on to the left back position he held for most of last season, but there may be a surprise or two as we near the start of the season.

And in other news
You may recall that George Malamas joined the board at the most recent AGM. He has since left the board. His departure appears to have been acrimonious, at least from his part.

Sometimes, words fail me
Joffa Corfe, of Collingwood cheersquad fame, is apparently now on the Heidelberg bandwagon, as host of their TV show. Nothing I can say will make that sound any more absurd than it already is.

Lastly
Fixtures come out on Wednesday. Expect two or three away games to start the season courtesy of the grand prix.

AGM 2013 - South still with one arm tied behind its back - but putting up a good fight

As usual, I'm conflicted about how much I should spill into a public forum about matters which the general South member would prefer remain in house. Of course, I have my principles about openness, but the process must also be respected. Then again, people will blab anyway.

Membership includes an entitlement to attend AGMs, an entitlement of course denied to non-members. Non-attendance of members complicates the issue - either people had more pressing issues to attend to, or just couldn't be stuffed coming. How do you cater to both? So once again, here are some general thoughts on what happened at yesterday's AGM.

It was good to see, for the first time in several years, a proper membership list and security presence at the door. Unlike previous year, this AGM was not hampered by the board trying to rush through the different points. Indeed, this meeting went to the other extreme, lasting for four hours, with a small break somewhere in there. 90 minutes was spent on the financial statements alone.

It was an exhausting process, but for the most part unavoidable, since there were so many crucial issues to discuss. However, going over old issues, such as the signing of the MOU (which happened four years ago) and the Toumbourou affair (which was settled last year) didn't help matters. Still, this is what the day is for.

A motion was put up by former board member George Kapnias, that in future years the annual financial statements would be mailed out along with the notice of an AGM. The reasons given were that it's not like they're not available from the ASIC website anyway, and that unlike the Melbourne Knights AGM, papers aren't collected at the end of a meeting. The motion was carried.

The lease situation remains much as it was, though I fancy things are likely to come to a head sooner rather than later. If we took the government's offer of a 21 year lease, we could sign tomorrow. But we agreed four years ago to 40 years, and the general consensus around the place is that we have a right to the 40 years as stipulated by the MOU. The intention is to fight for that part of the agreement, and rightly so.

There was an NPL Victoria update, presenting the picture and the possibilities which may unfold depending on several different outcomes happening. This week will be fairly important, with the co-signatory clubs meeting again this week, a further response by the FFA, and a court date of sorts next week.

The board explained the kind of workload they're dealing with, and the way they've split up the different projects among themselves. The double whammy of the NPL and lease issues has meant that resolving the women's team issue, or working on reform of our constitution, has basically been impossible.

With regards to players staying and players going, the big news is that apparently Fernando De Moraes has finally called time on his outdoor career - though I would like to see an official announcement of that before we get all justifiably misty eyed. Nothing beyond that was divulged, though we have apparently signed a couple of players.

There was discussion of the youth program and its alterations with regards to costs and coaching. Mistakes were admitted. Integration of the under 16s and up with vocational qualifications is a welcome development.

Lastly, George Malamas joined the committee. Over the years, Malamas has been one of the more vocal people at AGMs. I often disagree with his positions, but never doubt his passion for South. It will be interesting to see what impact he will have on the committee.

The mood overall was passionate and generally positive, especially with respect to the effort the board members put in, as well as for many of the decisions that they have made over the course of the year. A variety of people asked questions, to the point where afterwards I was told that I wasn't as vocal as in previous years.

One Last Thing 
This was from after the meeting. Looks like the Hellenic Cup will once again not go ahead. Or at least, that seemed to be the chat going around, as little to nothing has been heard about it. There are apparently offers from interstate to go and play a game or two during the pre-season. We'll see how that develops.