SAFC Newsletter – MARCH 2026

SAFC Newsletter – April 2026

SAFC Newsletter – May 2026

SAFC Newsletter – June 2026

SAFC Newsletter – July 2026

PRESIDENTS REPORT 

The finals are here. It’s great to be back where we belong. 

I know the coaches will have the players up and about, as we look forward to the challenge. 

The support for the teams has been awesome this year and we hope to see you out there showing your colours and cheering on the lads. 

There have been a few junior presentations completed, and I want to congratulate all the teams on a wonderful year, I hope you have enjoyed your footy. 

Thanks to all the coaches, parents, support staff for what you do in the junior space, your commitment is appreciated. 

In this newsletter I want to take the opportunity to mention a few things at a club level. At the moment I feel like the club is at a 4-way intersection, there has been so much going on over the last couple of years and we are now needing to make some calls, those decisions will determine what road we take, a lot of things will converge at the same time. 

As a club and Committee, we are constantly trying to keep the club ticking along, trying to cover off on all the indicators we need to meet. These roles can take on many forms and for the roles to be undertaken efficiently we need more people. 

At the moment we have volunteers doing more than 1 or 2 roles, this is not ideal. You don’t have to be on the Committee to be able to assist, most roles are a few hours a week and can be carried out at home, you would just to commit a few hours a week and keep the Committee informed of what you’re doing. 

Some areas of concern are – Governance Club Structure Roles and JD’s Constitution/By Laws Policies and Procedures Strategic Plan and Mission Statement 

Club Operations including Bar Stock ordering Bar cleaning and beer lines cleaning Rosters Pricing Kitchen/Catering Policies Finance Budget and purchasing Reconciliation/banking/floats etc

These are some of the areas we need to look at, we may need to look at employing people to do some of these roles. We would prefer to utilise our own people with the expertise in any role that can assist us. 

The other item that feeds into this is the review of the lease with Council. I have highlighted that the lease needs to be revisited. There are clauses in the lease that in my opinion are too onerous on the club. With a review there will be items that will come up that will affect us that don’t now, that is part of the process, we must have an open mind. 

Be assured that in all of this the club needs to be sustainable and in control of our destiny. The Committee has supported the forming of a lease sub-committee – made up of 5 people. The sub committee will meet shortly to go over the lease and highlight clauses that we need to discuss with Council. 

Council have given us until late September to bring our concerns to them, from there further discussions will take place as required with an anticipated outcome expected to be around April 2027. 

The lease is taking a considerable amount of time on my behalf, I started to work on this around 12 months ago. I want to thank Gary Kernahan and Andrew Magarey for being able to come to meetings with me. 

In my report I have tried to outline the items and risks the club is facing, with all the work that is required I can’t do it on my own, the Committee can’t do it on it’s own, we need as much support and assistance as we can get. 

If you have time and would like to assist in any of the areas listed above, please contact me.

All help is greatly appreciated and ensures the Club continues to move forward in a positive and consistent manner. 

In closing, I’d like to recognise the much improved season South’s has achieved on the field and to recognise all players from the juniors to the seniors who have played with commitment and discipline this year. 

The Seniors Presentation night is on Friday September 25th, so please come along and support our teams. This is always a great night to reflect on the year and recognise trophy winners and contributions made to our wonderful club. 

Nominations for Life Member and Club Person of the Year are now open and forms are available at the bar. 

The most important item is the AGM, this will be held in November and the date will be advertised as we get closer. It is important to consider what you can offer the club, we have an enormous amount of knowledge and expertise out there that it would be great to tap into. 

4 Committee positions, President and Treasurer are up for nomination. 

As always thanks for being a Southy. “When we all commit we turn hopes and plans into real 

results.’’ 

Nick Heron