Wahroonga FC Newsletter – August 2014

We are approaching the end of the 2014 football season, with less than a month to go.

The season will finish with the Gala Days scheduled as follows:

24 August - Women’s Gala Day

30 August - Junior Mixed and Men’s Gala Day

31 August - Junior Girls’ Gala Day

Please remember that our club Presentation Day is scheduled for Sunday 14

September at Ku-ring-gai High School. We will have a jumping castle and giant slide,

La Zana will be running the BBQ and canteen, and all junior players will receive a trophy.

We hope to see you all there.

A number of our junior and senior teams will be involved in finals over the next few

weeks. Our most successful team this year has been the U14A team, who finished as

premiers of U14 Division 1. This is the club’s first Division 1 premiership since 2010

(when our 12A team won the U12 Division 1 title) and is a great achievement, given the

stiff competition from teams from powerful clubs like Lindfield and Northbridge.

Congratulations to coach Godfrey Frederick, manager Nick West and to all the boys in

the team. The nucleus of this team has been together for a number of years, with the

team winning the U12 Grand Final and Gala Day final in 2012 and winning the U13 Gala

Day final last year. Having seen the boys play a few times, I can report that they play a

good style of football. Best of luck to the 14As and our other teams in their finals.

A report on the 14A’s season and reports and photos from some of our other teams

appear below in this newsletter.

A big thank you to everyone who bought tickets in our recent raffle, which is a big part

of our fundraising activity. The raffle winners were:

1st prize Tim Cahill signed shirt - the Nelson family.

2nd prize $150 Rebel voucher - C Cooper

3rd prize $100 La Zana voucher - Julia Wylie (mother of U9 Red player)

4th prize $50 Rebel voucher - the Loughhead family (U13As)

Wahroonga fleecie - Gordon Hale (Over 35s).

If you are in the vicinity of Karuah on a Saturday morning, remember that club

sponsor Peter Lazanas and his team are running the “Tigers’ Den”, bringing with them

their passion and pride for food and service. Apart from the hot breakfast BBQ there is

also fresh barista-made coffee and you can give your hungry little Tigers a homemade

cupcake or cookie after a big game. Don’t forget to support our sponsor by going to La

Zana Pizza at 46 Hampden Ave, Wahroonga or visiting their website

www.lazana.com.au.

Proudly Sponsored by:

WFC President Tony Batten and club sponsor Peter Lazanas with the signed Tim Cahill shirt.

Even when the winter football season is over, there are a number of opportunities for

players to keep playing over spring and summer. Wahroonga is happy to be involved

with Primary Soccer, who are running 5 a-side football for ages 6-12 at Karuah, George

Christie and Koola - see www.wahroongafc.com.au for more details. NSFA are running 6

a-side competitions for U12 and over at St Ives Showground and Mills Park, and Football

Sydney Group will likely be holding football clinics in term 4. We hope to be able to

continue our involvement with Football Sydney Group in 2015, with their possible

involvement in helping Wahroonga FC’s coaches. More details to follow.

Speaking of coaching, our club Director of Coaching, Nick Mountford has been attending

various teams’ training sessions to give our players and coaches new ideas on how to

get the most out of training. The feedback from players and coaches has been great. If

you are interested in Nick’s assistance, please contact him at

coachdir@wahroongafc.com.au.

Mark Bendall

Wahroonga FC

From the Secretary

For those teams that had their photos taken in May, the photos are available for

Managers to pick up at Karuah on a Saturday morning, the photos from the July session

should be available on Saturday 16th August.

Also at Karuah this coming Saturday 9th August we will be continuing our end of season

gear sale. Come along and see what great deals we have on club hoodies, fleeces,

tracksuits, beanies, caps, shorts and socks. First in best dressed - but only whilst stock

lasts and you may be able to get up to 80% off.

Remember that for any competition match (U12 and up) against Northbridge,

Wahroonga teams have to wear our change strip (whether we are at home or away).

Please contact me in advance about the away strip or come to Karuah on the morning of

your match to pick it up.

The manager and coach of a team that uses the away strip are responsible for returning

ALL of the shirts, washed and in the container they were borrowed in, by 9 a.m. on the

Saturday of the next week. If you do not return ALL the shirts, we will ask you to pay to

replace them.

For non-competition teams playing against Northbridge the Wahroonga team will need to

wear bibs, and these can also be collected from Karuah on a Saturday morning and must

be returned the following Saturday before 9 a.m.

Looking forward to enjoying the last few weekends of football, and to celebrating

another season of football at Presentation Day on 14th September.

Anita Stickland

Secretary

Junior and Senior Teams – Ladder Positions

U12 5th in Division 3 with 2 matches to go before finals

U13 7th in Division 2

U14A 1st in Division 1 - in semi final this weekend

U14B 5th in Division 3

U15 4th in Division 2 - in semi final this weekend

MAA2 9th in Division 2, reserves also 9th

MAA3 7th in Division 3, reserves 6th (1 match to go before finals)

M35s 6th in Division 1 (1 match to go), reserves 9th

M45s 8th in Division 2A

G12 2nd in Division 2 - in semi final this weekend

G14 4th in Division 1

G16 8th in Division 1

G18 5th in Division 1

WAA 4th in Division 1 - in semi final this weekend

It should be mentioned that our girls U14, U16 and U18 teams were all leading their

Division 2 competitions halfway through the season, before they were put up to Division

1 by NSFA.

Team Reports

Under 11Bs

The Tigers 11B team have had an entertaining season to date! With a combination of

players from last years “A”s and “C”s most of the players were already familiar with each

other, and have worked hard to currently have a 64% success rate. The matches have

kept everyone excited as only two games (of 12) have been decided by more than two

goals!

Nathan J. tops the goal scoring with 11, followed by Angus L on 7 and Clovis D (despite

being overseas for several games) with 4. All players have had at least one go in goal,

where some have surprised even themselves!

Caroline F. (our only girl) has had a great debut season and taken to the game like a

duck to water. Tomo B. has excelled from goal keeper to striker. Andrew B., Patrick B.

and Alex L. have all been strong in defence. Luke B., Paul B., Mitchell H. and Sam M.

have primarily been in midfield and proven to be a great link between defence and

attack.

Thanks to Christina for managing, Cameron for doing most of the refereeing and Daniel

J. for helping coach when he’s been able to.

John Bain (Coach)

Photos of 11Bs

Under 13As

Our 13As have had a tough season in a high standard Division 2 competition. Injuries,

illness, holidays and private school sport have meant that we have rarely been at full

strength.

In the centre of defence, Tom and Nick G have been pillars of strength and composure,

with Kasra, Will, Daniel and Jeremy all playing their part as fullbacks. In central midfield

Nick B and Aydin have shown their skills, with Lucas, Amin, Armin, Ryan and Sebastian

all doing well on the flanks. Up front Patrick and Sanveer have battled away manfully,

with our leading scorer Harry showing his class in scoring 19 goals. Patrick has also

made many great saves in goal, as has Ryan.

A special thanks to Chris B, Jono and Mattis (11As), Caroline (11Bs) and Sam (U12As)

for filling in when we have been short of players.

An enjoyable season, even though the results haven’t gone our way.

Mark Bendall (coach)

Under 14As

Wahroonga's U14A team have had an incredible season in the NSFA Division 1

competition. The team had gone through a rigorous grading process to select the squad.

From the outset it was obvious that the club had a very strong squad that would be

competitive in the league. However, what was not clear was how well they would do.

At the end of the regular season the team has played 13 games, won 10 and drawn 3

games - champions in beating Lindfield A by a narrow two points. In a hotly contested

series when any of 3 teams could have won the league it is testament to a great team

that they could become champions without losing a single game and only conceding 5

goals!

The job is only half done as the team has the play offs and Champion of Champions yet

to be contested.

Good luck to the U14As for the upcoming fixtures. The whole club is behind you!

Godfrey Frederick (coach)

Over 45s

The Tigers Mens O45s, competing in the NSFA Division 2A, have had an eventful season!

A difficult start saw losses mount up as a significant number of players were lost to both

on and off field injuries, suspensions, World Cup commitments and most tragically the

sudden sad passing of popular long serving member Declan O’Riordan. With support

from players backing up after playing with the Over 35s the side strung together a four

match unbeaten run and got the season back on track. After two successive wins, at the

time of writing the side sits at a 40% success rate with matches against competition

heavyweights to finish.

Dave Steer has constantly been a pillar of strength at the heart of the defence.

Player/Manager Richard Grace scored probably the goal of the season from inside his

half after a kick off against Kissing Point. Sang Lee and Peter Thompson have toiled

relentlessly up front whilst Peter Gribble, Brent Iwanoczko and Michael Williams continue

to bolster the defence.

Hopefully the squad can attract some fresh talent in 2015 as players “get promoted”

from the 35s squad.

John Bain

Over 45s

Over 45s