Message From New Senior Coach Matthew Dawes
Preseason - Starts Wednesday 30th November
Dear Player/Official/Supporter
As the new coach of the ROCS football club I’d like to welcome you aboard for what will be an exciting and challenging 2012 season. The 2011 season brought more consistent results across all grades, with all three playing in finals, however a premiership ultimately eluded us. I write to invite you to preseason training and I know that many of the players who played this year have a real sense of anticipation about the coming season.
Training will be held at Rostrevor College, commencing Wednesday 30 November at 6pm.
Thereafter we will continue on Monday 5 December at 6pm and each Monday and Wednesday until Wednesday 21 December. After training on this night we will be having Christmas drinks and a BBQ so, hopefully, everyone will join in before they head off for the Christmas break.
All training prior to Christmas will be held at Rostrevor College at this stage.
Philosophy
• The focus pre-Christmas is on skill development and building a fitness base. Mondays will incorporate running and Wednesday more competitive ie you may not need to tape shoulders, elbows, knees etc… on Mondays
• Post Christmas we will start training more specifically to a game plan as training should be seen as a rehearsal for what we do on Saturdays
Training should be intense in execution. There is no point training at anything but what we want to replicate on game day. That being said, training needs to be an enjoyable environment where players look forward to the challenge and given the time constraints most people face we aim to keep the sessions shorter.
League Clubs?
The club totally supports players who go to League Clubs to attempt to better their football and to see how high they can go. Every player should have a goal to play at the highest level possible for the longest time possible.
Players at League Clubs are strongly encouraged to register with the ROCFC so that if something unexpected happens you can play with us straightaway. Clearances in Amateur League are automatic between clubs, provided players are financial, however, they can take up to a fortnight to process.
Consequently, if a player is dropped from an Under 18 or Reserves team he has to play for the club for which he is registered. For most of our school leavers or for players who go direct to League clubs from school this is their junior club. We would obviously prefer this to be ROCFC as their back up club. You do not need a clearance from an SANFL club to register as a player with ROCFC or to go back and forward between the SANFL and the SAAFL.
Players who are playing Under 18 SANFL football are eligible to play for us when their League club has a bye or senior players if their club has a bye and they did not play League or Reserves the previous week, as well as if not selected on a given week.
Contact details
It’s common courtesy to let me know if you can’t attend training. Please ring me or text me on 0407 607 287 as soon as you know you can’t be there with the reason why.
Please feel free to get in touch at anytime if you wish to discuss any aspect of your football or anything else I can help you with.
Coaching news
We are fortunate that Tom Wigley will continue as a playing assistant coach. Tom will be more hands with coaching this year to the extent of taking more drills/ training nights, and having more influence on game structure. Everyone who has met Wigs knows the calibre of the man and how approachable he is so don’t let his knowledge and ability to help you improve pass by.
Paul Shaftenaar will be the Bench Coach this season to assist in player rotations on game day and our overall team structure/ balance.
Glen Malkin and Steve Edwards remain as the B grade and C grade coaches respectively and we look forward to their contribution with those teams.
Sponsorship
We need to make a better point of supporting our club sponsors where we can. Other than the obvious ones such as the Alma, familiarise yourself with the list on the club website and try and use them where possible. If you have contact with them already take the time to say thanks. Also, we know that clubs don’t run themselves and they need funding, so if you can recommend a new sponsor get in touch with Darren Furst on 0412 741 130.
Conclusion
We need to improve every aspect of our football club which starts at the individual level.
Matthew Dawes
ROCFC Senior Coach
