Is there any competition available for my very young child?
Yes. We have programs for children as young as 3 years old. Check out our information in the “Little Redbacks” & “Small Sided Football” sections of the website. For additional information see the Optus SSF website. Click through to the Optus SSF website to find out more.
What age group will myself or my child play in?
You will play in the age group that you are turning during the year of the season. For example, if your child is turning (or has turned) 10 years old during the year then they would play in the U10 competition. If you like formulas then take the current year (e.g. 2012) and subtract the year your child was born (e.g. 2000) and that number is your child’s age group (e.g. 2012 – 2000 = 12, your child is U12). It is really very simple.
For senior teams the regulations state that a player must be older than 15 years old. It is not unusual for some talented players to play in senior men’s teams at this age, however most players would be playing in a junior team up to U18′s.
When does the soccer season run?
April to Sept/Oct – 22 weeks give or take a week, depending on the competition. We also run programs in the summer and TECHfootball+ runs school holiday programs.
Are there any other time requirements outide of these months?
Yes. A period of pre-season training occurs for most age groups (U8 and older).
How many teams are there in the North East soccer competition?
Many. There are multiple leagues depending on skill/age.
Who are they?
If you go here and then in the top right do ‘search for a club’ and type ‘Eltham Redbacks FC’ you can ‘customize’ the site for our club. Then you will be able to find the relevant age group and can see the latest ladders/teams.
Which we be the furthest distance we would have to travel?
About an hours drive from the club would be the absolute maximum journey time. In most cases away games are between 20 to 30 min from Eltham.
Are juniors soccer matches played on Saturdays or Sundays and between what time slot?
Sundays. Time depends on age. Older age groups play later in the day. Our “Little Redbacks” (U3 to U7) play on Saturday morning.
How many times a week do the junior teams train?
Depends on age group. Once for younger teams, twice for older.
Where are your training grounds?
Wattletree Rd, Eltham North.
When and where is your registration?
Registration is online. Please click the ‘Register now!’ button on the website home page for info. Online registration is vie the FFV run website www.myfootballclub.com.
When, where and how many days are we required for trials?
Grading trials are held in February. The dates will be published on the website and emailed to members.
What are the club’s bank account details?
Please see the “Payment” page under the heading “Register”
Do all boys & girls try out and then get mixed up into teams – or do those who have already been playing for the club the previous year get placement first?
It is our policy to provide a team for anyone that wants to play. When we have mass influx (e.g., 2007 after World Cup) then we approach the council for more grounds. We try not turn away any player.
How much and what are the breakdown of the total fees involved including registration, uniforms etc?
You asked for it! Here’s the long answer.
Football Costs
1. Football Federation club affiliation fees
2. Football Federation team membership fees
3. Football Federation player registration fees
4. Football Federation referees administration levy
5. Football federation player transfer fees
6. Football Federation fines
7. Match Referee payments for juniors and seniors
8. Purchase of Playing tops for all teams
9. Purchase of Playing shorts for all teams
10. Purchase of Playing socks for all teams
11. Purchase of training balls for all teams
12. Purchase of match balls for all teams
13. Purchase of cones and bibs and other coaching aids for all teams
14. Technical Director and Team Coaching payments
15. Line marking
16. Purchase of Nets, corner flags, pegs etc
17. Coaching Course reimbursements
18. FFV Team sheet books
19. TrophiesFacilities Costs
1. Council Rent for Clubrooms and Playing Fields at Cedar Ave
2. Floodlighting maintenance at Cedar Ave
3. Electricity for Floodlights and Clubrooms
4. Repair and Maintenance of building items
5. Payment to Council for Facility upgrade contributions
6. Gas and water costsOperational Costs
1. Cleaning of Clubrooms
2. Clubroom Consumables
3. Payment for Annual Liquor Licence renewal
4. Payment for Annual Music Reproduction Licence
5. Building Insurance
6. Public Liability Insurance
7. Contents Insurance
8. Business Disruption and Stock Insurance
9. Telephone Costs
10. Postage costs
11. Post Office Box costs
12. Bank Charges
13. Auditor Fees
14. Office Supplies
15. Advertising
16. Canteen Staff cost
17. Web Hosting
18. Secure EmailThe average costs of operating the club is $481.36 per player (2009 calculation, it’s a bit more expensive now). The revenue stream to cover this cost comes from canteen revenue, fund raising, sponsorship and player registration fees. The more revenue the club can raise in canteen revenue, fund raising and sponsorship comes directly off the player registration fees.The club is currently budgeting $50k from these revenue streams or an average of $133.33 per player. This leaves an average gap of $348 dollars per player to cover in registration fees.
Costs across each age group of the club from Small Sided Football through Juniors to Seniors vary so that is why the registration fees vary however we always try to keep them to the minimum.
Some further points:
* The club has adopted an accredited coaches policy for the delivery of the club’s football program to all junior players. The old parent volunteer coach model that the club was operating was non longer sustainable and was not delivering the consistent quality football programs that the club wanted to deliver to the players, that the players deserved and the parents expected. Gaining accredited coaches for all teams incurs additional expenses in either coaches fees or additional training and accreditation for existing club coaches.
* To oversee the football program to ensure that the club is providing a quality football program in line with the new Football Federation Australia National Curriculum, the club has employed a Football Technical Director. The role of the Football Director is to develop the clubs football program, provide start of season coaching workshops to the coaches and then provide a management and mentoring program for the club coaches throughout the year to ensure that they are providing a quality and consistent football program to the players.
* To develop a quality and consistent club football culture across the club, each player will be provided with their own new playing strip and uniform each year. This will ensure that all players and all teams are dressed the same when representing themselves and the club. In 2009 the club did not have all players within teams wearing the same playing strip nor all teams wearing the same strip. This situation was inconsistent with providing a quality football program that all club players and parents can be proud off. It is also important in season 2010 as at the last Annual General Meeting the club voted for a name change to Eltham Redbacks Football Club. This name change is now official and the club will be moving forward in season 2010 with a new name, club logo and uniform.In 2009 your fees were $170 plus the $10 training levy for the hiring of the facilities at Bundoora for preseason training. The fees for the U9s were set and advertised prior to the the club being aware of the changes to the U9 structure where U9 players would be incorporated into the U10 competition. U10 fees for 2009 were set at $275 plus the $10 training levy. Even though the U9s were moved into the U10s competition the committee made the decision not to impose the additional fees onto the U9s as the club had already advertised the fees and taken registrations from players.
How do your age groups work? Is it what age they turn that year? (eg my son is 14 in may 2010 – which age group would he play in?).
Your son would play U14.
Can you think of a question that should be answered here? Please submit your question using the contact form for everyone to benefit.
Why do I get a new uniform each year?
The committee gets asked this question every year by members. Below is an email form a member and a reply from our committee.
On the registration, I noticed that we have to buy a full kit again, i.e. jacket, jersey, shorts and socks. Why is that necessary? Why can’t we just use the stuff from last year? It’s in perfect condition having only been used once a week for 4 or 5 months. Also, and I would assume that it’s worse for you because you have far more kids, if my three boys play for 10 years each, we will end up with 30 kits. That’s just a monumental waste in my mind. A waste of material and a waste of money. By the way, I’m not the only parent who can’t understand this.
Apart from it being wasteful, I feel also sorry for the families that struggle financially. The cost is quite high as it is; being able to use the kit for several seasons would really help those families. Also, I see playing sport as an important health education for kids. In that respect, I’m concerned about the situation for obese families, for example. As we all know, the obesity problem is prevalent in the lower socioeconomic echelon of society. Making sport unaffordable doesn’t help those people find a way to a healthier lifestyle. In Germany, clubs are an integral part of society and therefore feel some sort of responsibility to be as accessible as possible to everyone. I would have thought it would be similar here. I understand that the government here doesn’t subsides sport for the masses as Germany does but I thought that would be all the more reason for the club to find ways of compensating for that shortcoming.
Every year myself and others get asked the question about new kits and I am aware that it is an issue. It has been discussed at a committee level many many times.
The reason for why we offer a new kit each is two-fold; logistics and quirks with manufacturing.
The “shirt” makers change the styles EVERY year making it impossible to buy the same kit. Our teams would go on the field with an assortment of different red tops and look very sloppy. Our committee all feel strongly that this is not the image we wish to portray on the football pitch. There is a second issue of numbers - as you can imagine it would be a nightmare to work around numbers as kids change teams, leave the club or join as new players. Re-using the shirts from year to year is not an option unfortunately.
The issue with a new pair of socks and shorts is not a big issue. It doesn’t add must to the overall coast and its useful to have extra pairs anyway. Would you believe despite having 5 of my kids playing for the last few years I still have some training days where someone cannot find a pair of socks that fit!! It is also administratively (see below) much simpler to give every member a new pair.
The issue with jackets (re-using last years) has been more of an issue with logistics. You are more aware than most as to how much work the committee put into running the club and we haven’t had a dedicated person to coordinate the uniforms. It ends up being just an extra job that we all help with. To take orders from those that need jackets and exclude those that don’t – and then distribute them to 700 members is a mammoth task – and we simply cannot afford the time.
We are looking at options to include other items that club members can purchase and if this system is workable we may be able to alter the way we go about uniforms. There is a “test” online ordering system on the website and this may be a way of getting around the logistics behind effectively running a uniform shop. If we can make our system work well then we can reduce waste with endless jackets – maybe even look to change to a better quality jacket so it lasts longer too. These are all items on our agenda and we will look to resolve them hopefully in time for next year.
I would like to stress again that this isn’t an issue that has just been overlooked. It has been discussed many times and the entire “uniform” process is actually quite a complex issue that requires a great deal of time and effort. Even giving each club member the exact same kit (just different sizes) is a huge task that consumes hours and hours of our volunteers time – time which is at a premium. Some of our committee have been involved in this process over many years and the club has had different processes in the past so we are always learning and refining the process.
The committee is well aware of the cost issues to families and we try to keep our fees as low as possible. We don’t make any profit. Considering the facilities at our disposal we are one of the lowest cost clubs in the region. Although AFL club fees are lower due to subsidies supplied by the AFL we are highly competitive compared to sports such as basketball as our one-off fee covers ALL costs for the entire season (18 weeks playing and 6 week pre-season). Our committee is also of the view that we would like to be a community based club that all can benefit from – but clearly we have to cover our costs.
We are always looking for new members to join our committee – both to contribute their time in helping to run the club and in contributing their opinions as to the direction the club should take with issues such as uniform.
It seems like such a simple solution to re-use your uniform but hopefully I have explained why we have made the decisions that represent our current uniform policy.
