Mr. Andrew Doquile
President,
Brighton Beach Junior Football Club
Dear Andrew,
First of all, let me offer you and all members of the Brighton Beach Junior Football Club my best wishes for the festive season on behalf of the Hampton Rovers Amateur Football Club.
Having been elected as Junior President of the Hampton Rovers Amateur Football Club, I on behalf of the Junior Committee would like to take this opportunity to congratulate you on the establishment of the Brighton Beach Football Club. We at the Rovers understand the tremendous commitment that is required from your team to the establishment and ongoing management of a junior football club in the Bayside area, and wish you and your team all the best for your new club.
Coming from being the Auskick coordinator for the Rovers in 2009, I completely understand the passion, commitment and dedication that is involved in ensuring the Auskick environment and experience is translated to the junior years within the Moorabbin Saints Junior Football League. We wish your club well in establishing its identity in the MSJFL, and are sure that your club will continue the Auskick focus of involvement for all skill and dedication levels within your program. I am sure you will agree that, after all, the focus at junior level is no different to Auskick – involvement and a fair go for all.
The establishment of a fourth club in the local area certainly presents opportunities to improve our joint service to the community. The Rovers are well aware of the challenges that the establishment of your club presents to our long-term commitment to football in Bayside. Hampton Rovers has been involved in football in the area since 1918 at a senior level, and at a junior level with the establishment of our junior football division in 1979. During this time, the Rovers have met many challenges, and it continues to meet these challenges head on. The establishment of the Brighton Beach Junior Football Club is an excellent catalyst for the Rovers to review its delivery to the community, and you can be sure that our new committee through our continuous improvement program will be reviewing the opportunities to build on the excellent foundations that have been laid over 30 years of involvement in junior football , whilst focusing on identifying further pain points for action and attention.
Furthermore, all the clubs in the Bayside area need to be aware of the experience of the past where four Bayside clubs has proven to be unsustainable, particularly at the later junior years when the demands of the Private School system are felt in the MSJFL, as well as the competitive demands of other sports continue to impact participation in Australian Rules football. The worst possible scenario in these later years is the loss of children from the Australian Rules system because teams become unworkable due to numbers in the teams.
Our committee believes that it is incumbent upon our club to embrace other like-clubs in the area to ensure that the long term playing future of the kids is ensured. To that end we would welcome discussing with your club possible approaches to this inevitable issue which will potentially impact both Brighton Beach and Hampton Rovers in the future, and how we may be able to assist each other to ensure participation in Australian Rules football is maximised.
Once again, we welcome Brighton Beach Junior Football Club to the MSJFL, and look forward to working cooperatively with your team in maximising the communityÂ’s involvement with our great Australian game.
Yours Sincerely,
Phil Bourke
Junior President
Hampton Rovers Amateur Football Club
