President’s Report Frances Refalo

What a start the 2020 season. Und er a cloud of b ushfire smoke, while we wo uld have no rmally b een getting ready to start football, trials, grading, team nominations, we were instead d etermining if it was safe to p lay at all, with the smoke index b eing b reached on many d ays, and watching in ho rror as Australia-wide, o ur community worried about co mmunities threatened b y fire and ab out those who were trying to keep our communities saf e. Henry Lawson FC’s friend and ex-member, Jeff Keating, was one such hero who didn’t survive the Black Summer fires. To Jeff’s family and friends from Henry Lawson we o f fer our collective condolences.

The next 14 weeks co nsisted of Football NSW negotiating with the State Government and wo rking through the hurdles and ticking the b oxes to enable o ur members to take the field in a saf e environment. We all knew then that if we managed to salvage a season that it wouldn’t look like what we are used to. In these 14 weeks Linda Cerone our General Manag er, wo uld have meetings, often o n a d aily b asis with Football NSW and other asso ciations, to make sure that Nep ean stayed up to d ate with what was o ccurring. She ensured that the Board, Clubs, and their members were kept in the loop and o ur voices were heard f urther up the football chain of command. The Bo ard were having weekly meetings staying up to date and reimagining the many “what if” scenarios as the season p o tential changed each week.

By mid-June the news finally arrived that we co uld commence our season o n 3rd July, with lo ts of extra rules and restrictions so we could all stay safe. We und erwent ano ther reg rad e f ollowing the withdrawal of ap proximately 100 teams where clubs had lost players. A massive thank you to Alicia & Linda for regrading and g etting the d raw out so q uickly and to the rest o f the staff for all chipping in and helping to push through the last of the reg istrations to get as many players as possible o n the field for the season start. The asso ciations priority was to g et the players on the field and our awesome staff ro se to the o ccasion.

Notwithstanding all the hurdles we had to jump this year, the Association’s 31 clubs manag ed to retain 11,031 p layers reg istered in the winter competition and 1446 in the summer co mpetition. We also reg istered 1072 volunteer coaches d uring the winter seaso n. More statistical d etails are supplied further along within this rep ort.

This year has b een a lo ng and hard year for o ur Club Co mmittee volunteers with little to no rest time o nce the 2020 season reb oot was announced. I wo uld like to thank each o ne of yo u f or your dedication to your members, your club and for the cooperation shown to the Asso ciation. The wo rk that each committee member p uts in b ehind the scenes to ensure we can all p lay f ootball is amazing. Co mmittee Members are a sp ecial breed, not all of us pg. 9

can d o it, not all of us have the time but the o nes that d o put their hand up, especially in our d istrict always put in 100% and were a b ig part in achieving ano ther successful year.

Co ng ratulations goes to Richmond Ex-Servicemen’s SC for the gallant effort made under the current restrictions to fund raise $880 for McGrath Foundation and Breast Cancer awareness thro ugh their annual Pink Day. During the season we also had various clubs celebrating significant anniversaries. Congratulations to St Mary’s Band Club SC – 60 years, Wentwo rth Falls FC – 50 years, and Pitt To wn & Districts Sport SC – 30 years.

This seaso n we ag ain saw a welcoming reduction in p oor o n field behaviour, but what we are seeing is more anti-social and discriminative b ehaviour o n the sidelines from p arents and sp ectators. This sort of behaviour is not acceptable and as ad ministrations of football within o ur d istrict, we all need to b e proactive and wo rk together in finding ways to stamp o ut this b ehaviour. Statistics and a more d etailed report on d isciplinary issues ap pear elsewhere in this rep o rt.

At the 2019 Nep ean Annual Awards Dinner during my welcoming speech, you may have heard me mentio n a number of projects that were p lanned for o ur d istrict, over $9.5 million in value. This year saw the start of some of these p rojects. At Wollondilly, Warradale FC has b een in co nsultation with their council and other local sporting clubs to work toward s a master p lan for their collective sporting org anisations

Blue Mo untains City Co uncil has been wo rking with Wentworth Falls FC to build a new club ho use at Pitt Park. This has been coming along nicely with an expected completion d ate o f end of March 2021, just in time for the coming season. Blue Mountains City Co uncil have also b een working with Blue Mountains FC with the relo cation and construction of the new club ho use and carp ark upgrade. The civil side b eing the carpark has not yet started b ut we are ad vised that they are ho ping to have that aspect completed and read y for the start of the 2021 season. As for the club house, well that’s a bit of a slower process and co uncil are ho ping to have that section read y for the start of the 2022 season. Also, there was f encing aro und the Eastern side of St Johns Oval for Blaxland FC.

Penrith City Co uncil has b een very busy working o n a number of projects, the first being St Clair United SC who will receive a new amenities building at Mark Leece Oval. We have had the turning of the soil, with the footings and plumbing wo rk completed, we are lo oking f o rward to seeing the slab b eing p ut down shortly. This p roject has an expected co mp letion d ate of aro und end of May 2021 with the club wo rking towards returning to Mark Leece Oval for the 2021 season.

Amenities upgrades have also commenced at St Mary’s Band Club at Kevin Dwyer Res, Henry Lawso n FC at their f ields at Parkes Ave Reserve and Emu Plains FC at Hunter Field s. All are d ue for completion in 2021.

Mulg o a Valley FC as well as Jamisontown FC are receiving an upgrade to their lighting. These are b o th still in the planning stage and will hopefully commence mid-2021.

At Mulg oa Rise for Glenmore Park FC, Penrith City Council have recently completed the amenities b uilding extension and new BBQ facilities.

Jamiso n Park synthetic pitches are currently under construction and are d ue to be co mp leted in the first q uarter of 2021. We are also wo rking with PCC for a major g rant sub mission with the NSW Government for Cook Park at St Marys.

Over in the Hawkesb ury, we have had Hawkesbury Sports Co uncil wo rking with Lo wland Wand erers SC o n completing the sprinkler system and a lig hting upgrade at the fields at Benso ns Lane. Glossodia FC have had up grades to their lighting to make them suitable for nig ht g ames at their fields at Wo odbury Reserve, and at Wo odlands Oval, Wilberforce United are receiving new lig hting.

A massive thank you g oes to our Director, Steve Hurley who has b een wo rking closely with Co uncils, especially Penrith to make sure we g et the best facilities we can for our d istrict.

Nep ean FC mo ved into the 2020 season with g reat expectations under the expert g uidance o f their newly formed Executive Committee members, Dominic Micallef (President), Branka Po p ovic (Secretary) & Jason Taylor (Financial Officer) and a hard working and expanded g eneral co mmittee. They had an extended season and suffered with the same struggles as we all d id with the b ush fires – no training, the floods – ag ain no training and then COVID. With all this hap pening they kept in contact with their p layers and kept them active and mo tivated with weekly drills they did at home as well as keeping their fitness levels up ready f or the return to football. Nepean FC ended the season with the men’s NPL4 winning their f inal ag ainst Fraser Park FC.

Men’s NPL4 – 3rd

Yo uth NPL 2 Blue – 5th

Women’s NPL2 – 5th

This will see the men’s promoted to NPL3, the youth boys promoted to NPL1 and the wo men p ro moted to WNPL1 for the 2021 season. I wo uld like to take this opportunity to thank Do monic, Branka, Jason, the rest of their committee and coaching staff for the pg. 11

amazing wo rk they have done this season and I’m looking forward to a bigger and better 2021.

With Graham Chap man stepping aside to a less d emanding role within the NRG committee this season, the position of NRG p resident was left vacant. This position was ad vertised, and f o llowing extensive consultation, was offered to and accepted b y Nick Farmer, an existing member within the NRG ranks.

What a seaso n to start your first year as President of the NRG. Many p lans, as with many o ther o rg anisations and clubs, went out the window with COVID. Ho wever, the NRG have d o ne an amazing job keeping their members engaged and I thank them for their hard work and d ed ication this season and ho pe 2021 will present many new o pportunities for NRG.

This seaso n the referee numbers have remained constant compared to p revious years with ap p ro ximately 165 members. We have received almost 100% coverage o n Saturday g ames and an average coverage of 85% o n Sunday g ames.

Many thanks go to our staff members, it’s been a hard, long and tiresome season but you wouldn’t think so if you walked into the office as all you’ll see is cheerful smiling faces. With all the p ressure they were under this season they still managed to d eliver the high standard o f service we are used too. Just prior to o ur AGM we said g oodbye to a long serving staff memb er, James Rankine. I wo uld like to thank James for his 11 years of service to the Asso ciation and wish him all the b est for the new chapter in his life.

Finally, to my fellow board members and their families, I thank you for your support and co mmitment to the ongoing growth and success of our Association. The p recious free time taken f ro m your families to ensure that Nepean grows stronger in all areas of football is invaluab le to o ur football community.

In clo sing, enjoy the couple weeks off that you might manage as an o ff season. Stay safe and I lo o k forward to seeing you in the New Year.

Frances Ref alo

Presid ent