Thanks to everyone for their interest in the new Hampton Rovers Thirds team, playing in the VAFA Club XVIII (South) competition in 2009. Momentum continues to build as we draw closer to Round 1 on April 18. We?ve announced a coach and details for the first training session.
Training
The first training session will be held Thursday (2/4/09) at Boss James Reserve. We understand a number of players are unable to make training all the time, but if you could try your hardest to get down occasionally, even if towards the end of training just to show your face, that would be great. Training will commence at 6pm and go for approximately one hour. This will be separate from the main seniors group. Throughout the season, Thursday will be the main training night, however players are more than welcome to join in with the seniors group on Tuesday. Once the season gets underway, the club is open late Thursday nights, dinner is put on, the Bar is open, we have team selection and a few other things going on – we encourage players to stick around.
Numbers
In general, numbers are looking fantastic at the moment. We had our first practice game on Saturday against Donvale and we had over 60 players take the field for the three games. We had well over 20 players unavailable to play, and on top of this is new players to the club looking to play in the new Thirds team. We have over 30 players on the Thirds list – some of these can play the whole season, some a selection of games, and some may not play at all. We would still like a few more players able to play the majority of the season to build a core group of players.
Coach & Officials
We?re pleased to announce Glenn Roulent as coach for the 2009 Thirds team. Glenn is a past player with the Rovers and played in the last Club XVIII team we had a number of years back now. We also have a Team Manager in Rod Hebberfield as well as a goal umpire. We?re on the lookout for a field umpire so if you know anyone interested, for any job for that matter, please let us know. Glenn can be contacted on 0418 556 351.
Fixture & Season Details
We were today advised by the VAFA that the fixture was meant to be released yesterday but has been delayed as another team has expressed interest in joining the competition. Currently there are 9 teams, the addition of another team would prevent the Bye. The fixture should be released by the end of this week. What we do know is that the season commences on April 18 and runs for 15 rounds plus finals, with a mid-season break on 6th July. The majority of games will be played at 11:40am prior to the Under 19s however there is the possibility for triple-headers before the reserves and seniors commencing at 9:30am, or even some 2pm starts.
Subs / Player Sponsorship / Insurance
Player subs will be the same as the other three senior teams – $160 for the season. This helps us cover league affiliation fees and will ensure you?re covered by insurance which includes loss of income protection. For those who won?t be able to play the entire season, we?ll group subs into three groups: 1-5 games, 6-10 games, 12 or more games. Exact prices to be announced shortly. We also offer player sponsorship where a company can sponsor you for $220 which covers your subs, and they get their company name listed on the website and in the clubrooms.
Practice Games
We?re going to try and organise a Practice Game for the weekend of 4th April. Additionally, the seniors (1sts, 2nds & U19s) play their second round of practice games this Saturday. If anyone is keen for a run in the reserves, please come to training this Thursday.
If you have any mates keen on playing, please forward their details through. We look forward to your involvement at the Hampton Rovers Amateur Football Club in 2009!
