Player grading trials have been amended to Sat 27th and Sun 28th Feb only. The scheduled player grading for the weekend 20th and 21st Feb has been cancelled as the club has been advised that construction activities of the new field has not been completed and the ground has not be handed over from the contractors to council as scheduled.

The schedule for player gradings is: 

Sat 27th Feb 10

• 12.30 pm – 1.55 pm             U9
• 2.00 pm – 3.25 pm               U11
• 3.30 pm – 4.55 pm               U12   Boys
• 5.00 pm – 6.30 pm               U16   Boys

Sun 28th Feb 10

• 12.30 pm – 1.55 pm             U13   Boys
• 2.00 pm – 3.25 pm               U14   Boys
• 3.30 pm – 4.55 pm              U15   Boys

Player gradings for U12 Girls, U14 Girls and U16 Girls teams have been cancelled.

Age groups are determined by the age that the player is turning in 2010. Example a player turning 13 year old on the 1 Jul 2010 plays in the U13 team.

The U9 competition is a composite U8 and U9 competition so all players turning 8 or 9 in 2010 should attend the U9 grading sessions.

The U11 competition is a composite U10 and U11 competition so all players turning 10 or 11 in 2010 should attend the U11 grading sessions.

Any girls from 8 to 11 years old have the option to play with the boys in the U9 or U11 team or play in the Girls U12 team.  Any girls wishing to play with in the U9 or U11 team should attend the grading session for that age group.  The club has a number of girl players that play in the U9 or U11 competitions.

Players are required to be attired in suitable clothing for physical activity such as shorts and a top. Official club uniforms are not required to be worn.

Safety equipment such as football boots and shin guards are required to be worn, mouthguards are optional and are at the player/parent discretion.

Players are requested to be in attendance at the Wattletree Rd, Main Ground 10 minutes prior to their scheduled grading session to allow for the sessions to commence on time.

NEW PLAYERS WELCOME TO ATTEND!

CASH PAYMENT OF REGISTRATION FEES WILL BE ACCEPTED AT THE CLUB ROOMS ON SUN 21ST AND 28TH FEB FROM 12.30PM TO 2.00PM – ASK FOR THE TEASURER, STEVE KATONA

(Click for larger image)

Local girls Keely Lockhart from Eltham North and Cassandra Dimovski from Lower Plenty, both from Eltham Redbacks FC (previously Eltham North Soccer Club), represented Victoria this week at the FFA National Futsal Championships in Canberra.

Lockhart competed for the U11 girls team who were very competitive with a highlight 8-1 win over Canberra in Round 10 but unfortunately missed out on making the final.

Dimovski competed for the U16 girls who did particularly well and made the final but lost 2-0 to a very strong team, NSW Thunder. Victoria’s highest score in their league was a 9-1 win over Northern NSW Hawks in Round 4.

The Rebacks have historically had very strong girls and womens membership highlighted by the Women’s Premier League team which was very successful in past years under coach Bob McGuinness before disbanding in 2009 due to lack of facilities.

Players such as Enza Barilla, Nicole Paul and Deanna Niceski have all played for the Redbacks and have gone on to play for the Victory W-League team.

The Redbacks, complete with a brand new state-of-the art FIFA 1-star artificial surface, are open for registration for the 2010 season.

Offical Futsal Nationals site: http://www.futsalnationals.com.au/

ERFC Committee members (and Small-sided Football organisers!) Malcom Wiley and Christine Taylor have been working hard in the period before Christmas to make sure that all local kids and parents know about Eltham Redbacks FC!

In total Malcom and Christine have now approached 24 local primary schools and requested an A4 insert into local school newsletters which are delivered electronically or in printed form to all parents.

The schools that have been approached so far are:

Eltham College
Eltham
Eltham East
Eltham North
St Thomas
Greensbourough
Montmorency
Montmorency South
Research
Diamond Creek
Diamond Creek East
Sherbourne
Briar Hill
Lower Plenty
Wattle Glen
Sacred Heart
Glen Katherine
Holy Trinity
Greenhills
Apollo Parkways
St Francis Xavier
Plenty Valley Montessori
Our Lady of Lourdes

This list of schools accounts for an estimated 7,500 local students!

With the 2010 FIFA World Cup on the horizon this season is set to be a big one for the Redbacks and the President and Committee are working very hard to ensure there are plenty of player numbers in all of the junior and small-sided football age groups.

With the ground development coming along daily and a big list of players Eltham Redbacks FC will be the premier club to play for in 2010!

The Football Federation of Victoria have announced a restructuring of the junior leagues that the Eltham Redbacks competes in for the 2010 season.

As we experienced in 2007 following the World Cup in 2006 – the Redbacks and the FFV expect a surge of players in 2010 and 2011. The league restructure will take this into account and will mean that teams will be able to compete more locally which is great.

The proposed league structure has already been released placing teams.

Please note that the ERFC Committee and football operations staff have not reviewed this structure as yet – and in the past we have always requested changes to our teams each season.

It is a very preliminary league design but it’s great to see the FFV so proactive and organising the leagues very early for 2010!

More info on the FFV website

I am pleased to announce that Eltham Redbacks Football Club has gained stage 1 accreditation with the FFV’s Football ACE program.

What is Football ACE?

The Football ACE Program is football’s state wide club development program designed by Football Federation Victoria (FFV) and supported by Sport and Recreation Victoria (SRV).

The program is aimed at:

• Achieving Club Excellence (ACE)
• Fostering best practise in club management and development
• Ensuring existing and new club members receive a quality experience when they join a club
• Providing an environment that is attractive to sponsors as well as developing a sense of community with all key stakeholders

How does Football ACE work?

Football ACE comprises five levels of improvement and achievement that clubs can strive to attain in order to fulfill their desired improvement objectives. At each level clubs are required to implement change and adopt certain FFV policies to ensure they meet the criteria required at each level.

The five levels of achievement are:

• Level 1 – Group Stage
• Level 2 – Second Round
• Level 3 – Quarter Finals
• Level 4 – Semi Finals
• Level 5 – Final

You can read further about Football ACE and how the program ensures that ERFC remains a top-quality club on the FFV website

- Cameron Lockhart, President & Steve Katona, Treasurer

Just a quick update on the ground redevelopment.

Construction is well under way and by the end of the year the new facilities will be online for the 2010 preseason.  By the end of the construction the Redbacks will have one of the premier playing and training surfaces in Melbourne. The redevelopment is delivering the following to the club:

• New Entrance and Car Park
• A Premier League standard FIFA One Star Accredited Artificial Surface Pitch on the Main Pitch (Bottom Field).
• Premier League game standard 140 Lux lighting for the Main Pitch. Senior football will be moving to night games in 2010.
• A three tier concrete “Grandstand”  spectator area for the Main Pitch.
• New fencing around the Main Pitch.
• A multisport sport venue consisting of an official sized Futsal court and five crickets nets
• A new summer grass surface on the Top Field with underground drip watering system.
• New rabbit proof fence for the top oval.
• The above goes with the new lighting for the top oval that was delivered at the end of season 2008.

Construction is going really well with the new entrance and car park to be completed this week, the reseeding of the top oval will be completed this week and the new artificial main pitch will be completed by the end of Dec.

We will be conducting an official opening in the new year and as past players I will ensure that you get an invite to the opening.

- Cameron Lockhart, President

Hot off the press – our name change is now official!

We received the new Certificate of Incorporation from Consumer Affairs this week which states that our club is now officially called Eltham Redbacks Football Club Inc.

The Committee is elated that the name change has gone through the system so effortlessly and all feedback on our new club name so far has been excellent.

Great news – Registrations for season 2010 are now open! Just click through to online registration and then follow the directions.  Get in early so you don’t miss out on the teams going to Boys FC or Total Girl.

Football Federation Victoria (FFV) in conjunction with Football Central Victoria (FCV) and the City of Greater Bendigo are once again organising this annual event which will take place in Bendigo over the weekend of March 13 and 14, 2010.

Boys FC will run as a two-day round robin tournament for boys aged between 10 and 15, with teams playing in a 7-A-Side competition which will run in each of the six age groups – U11 through to U16.

With the tournament commencing a little more than a month prior to the start of most junior winter competitions, Boys FC is perfectly timed to kick start our Club’s 2010 pre-season activities.  The small-sided format is a great way to get everyone going again after a relaxing off-season!

More info: footballfedvic.com.au

Australia’s largest girls’ soccer tournament will be held on the weekend of the 20th and 21st March, 2010, in Ballarat.

The Total Girl Tournament is a seven-a-side round robin competition played over two days. More than 130 teams from clubs and schools all over Australia will be attending. The format allows players from the inexperienced right up to the best players in Australia to participate and enjoy the weekend.

The Tournament has all age groups from under 10 through to under 16′s. The age groups are graded into divisions so each team gets to play against teams of similar abilities.

As well as the tournament itself, there are many activities that take place on-site. These include the popular Total Girl Market and visits from star players. Each player also receives a Total Girl showbag.

More info: www.totalgirl.com

The results of the 2009 Provisional League 3 S/E Best and Fairest were published on the Football Federation of Victoria (FFV) website on Monday morning with some of the results raising some eyebrows amongst the Eltham playing squad.

Captain Daniel Oehme once again proved he is number 1 in the eyes of the referees by polling the most votes (10) for an Eltham player in the count. Oehme was closely followed by dynamic midfielder Leith Robertson (8), veteran goalkeeper Tony Dent (7) and live-wire striker Brendan Mulcahy (7). The big shock was in relation to the 2009 Eltham Senior Men’s  Player’s Player of the Year winner, James Murray. The defensive stalwart whose physical demeanour is very much lauded by his team mates isn’t seen in the same light by the referees and resulted in Murray only accumulating 3 votes in the count. Other players to receive votes in the count include Clubman of the Year Ryan “Pinky” Adams (3), injury prone striker Aaron McNaughton (2), comeback kid Craig Melville (2), wide man William Mulvey (2), the gentle giant Guy De Vos (1) and emerging star Mitchell Stewart (1).

Seaford United’s Nicholas Allen comfortably won the count with 23 votes, 7 votes ahead of equal second Alex King of University of Melbourne (16) and Bradley Staines of Meadow Park (16).

For a full list of vote-getters visit the FFV website.

Eltham Redbacks FC  Best and Fairest Votes