We field teams in both Division 1 and 2 of the AFL Queensland State Association along with an Under 18 side. The 4 sides in Division 1 and 2 play on Saturday afternoons while the Under 18 side plays on Sunday afternoons. Our home ground is Oval 7 at The University of Queensland in St Lucia.

We are seeking team managers for both teams in Division 1 (Seniors and Reserves). Applicants would need to be willing to commit to weekend work for the large part of March through to August.

A successful team manager will be someone who is easy-going and will have no trouble getting along with the members of our club. Reasonably good organisational skills will be required, and good people management skills are always a plus.

Roles

The main part of the team managers job will be game day organisation. Managers will be required to ensure that:

• players are given the correct equipment;
• players rostered on for game duties perform their duties with correct equipment;
• records of players, jerseys numbers, game stats, etc are kept and, at home games, are sent to the AFLQ;
• all equipment is collected after the game and sent back to our home ground;
• and generally attend to any minor administrative needs of the coaches and players.

Attend most (if not all) 16 games throughout the year.

Hours for the Seniors games are from 1pm to 5pm.

Hours for the Reserves games are from 11am to 2.30pm.

Those applying for the position of team manager will have the chance to become a part of a great football club. We have a great social atmosphere where you will meet lots of new people and make many new friends.

Remuneration is negotiable on application.

Direct all applications or requests for further information to applications@redlions.org.au
Scott Young – UQAFC President – 0422 494 701

Tom Gehrmann – UQAFC Treasurer – 0422 963 008

Attached below are the DRAFTs of three new documents for the club this year. These policies are up for approval at the next committee meeting, but as yet there have been no calls for changes.

Before anyone fills out any Membership forms, they MUST read these three documents.  If you do not approve of or agree with any of the content in these documents, please contact me at president@redlions.org.au to discuss.

Membership forms will be available at training from Monday 25th of January. Should any changes be made to any of the three policies mentioned after a player has signed the forms, that player shall be entitled to withdraw their application if they wish and all records and information obtained from those forms will be destroyed. At this point in time I am not anticipating any changes to the policies.

Please assist us by completing your Membership Application as soon as possible.

Regards,
Scott Young

Over the last decade we’ve seen player numbers at the Red Lions grow from struggling to field 44 players for two teams to a record 224 players on the books and five teams for the 2009 season. In that time we have increased from two teams to start a Joint Venture U18s team in 2003, increasing to a third senior team in 2006 and further increasing to a fourth senior team in 2009.

Unfortunately, with this rapid expansion of players and teams, the administration and resources of the club have not grown at the same rate to compensate for the greater needs of the club.

At the AGM for the 2010 season we started our first steps towards better administration of the Red Lions, selecting a highly motivated and resourceful 10-man committee, each with a properly defined role within the administration.

Since their appointment, the committee have met several times and have been working extremely hard to make positive changes to the Red Lions. What follows is information on each of the areas we have been working on in the past few months and plans for the future.

Team Structure

The Red Lions in 2009 unfortunately struggled to be competitive across all divisions. The key problem identified was a serious inability to retain players throughout the season, resulting in all teams comprising of players that had rarely played together as a cohesive team. The cause of this problem was identified as a lack of properly structured administration, coaching and resources to meet the needs of the club as a whole.

Faced with several possibilities, the committee discussed the situation at length and came to the decision to keep the team structure at four senior teams and one U18s team for the year 2010 for the following reasons:

• As with any organisation, our aim should always be to expand our resources to meet our growth rather than stifle our growth to match our current resources.
  • Work is already underway by the committee to expand our resources including financials, sponsorship, facilities, marketing, game day volunteers, etc.
  • Many key stakeholders including AFLQ, UQ Sport, UQ Property & Facilities, West Juniors and UQ Cricket Club are all interested in seeing our resources improve and are all willing to help out in different ways.
  • Once resources, mainly game day volunteers, are expanded to meet our needs, players will no longer be required to help out in non-playing areas and can focus instead of playing football.
• Rolling back to three or less senior teams would be detrimental to the growth of our player base.
  • This would mean turning away a large number of players who would normally fill the fourth team and are keen to represent the University of Qld.
  • We would also be forced to turn away a large number of new student players coming through the uni.
  • UQ and UQ Sport’s new focus on “student involvement” (more on this later) demands all clubs prioritise the opportunity for new students to participate. Restricting numbers could seriously affect our support from UQ and potentially starve us of talented players who have never played before, but have the potential to fast become senior players at our club.
• Coaching staff this year will be properly structured from Senior Coach down and will be requested to increase focus on player retention throughout the year.
  • More on the coaching appointment process below.
• There has also been some extremely good work done by some of the senior players in chasing down some of the players that we have lost over the past couple of years and getting them and also some new players interested in the club in 2010.
  • Thanks must go to Matthew Stewart, Luke Wray and all others who helped in this area over the off season.

The entire committee is standing behind this decision and is dedicated to making it work, but we can always use more help. You as players/members/old boys/etc. can help by doing the following:

• Spread the word. Let everyone know that the Red Lions are coming back and coming back stronger than ever.
• Bring along your friends/family/neighbours/etc. to play, volunteer, spectate, etc.
• Read the rest of this post, paying specific attention to items in RED. These are the areas where we need your help.
• Finally, enjoy playing at the club and wear the Red Lions uniform with pride. We already know we are the best club in SE QLD, so let’s put in the hard work to continue to improve, support the committee with everything we do and prove that to the rest of SE QLD.

Coaching Appointments

The coaching appointment process has been going on since mid November by a coaching selection committee made up of Tom Gehrmann, Matthew Stewart, Darren Harvey and Peter Herring.

We had several applications for the Senior Coaching Position, have held interviews with all candidates and have since made an offer to our desired applicant, Anthony Beacham, who hails from Learmonth in Victoria. Anthony has significant playing and senior coaching experience that has led to premiership success at the Learmonth Club for several years. He is currently working with the Country Fire Authority in Victoria and sees the Red Lions as the next step in his coaching career. Anthony is keen to relocate as soon as possible having visited UQ and met the selection committee on a recent visit to Brisbane. He is particularly impressed with the resources available to the club through the University and the calibre of the playing group, represented by Tom, Darren and Matt.

Only one hurdle exists before Anthony can accept the offer. In order to make the move to Queensland, Anthony needs to find full time employment. Both Anthony and our committee have been working hard to find an appropriate job for Anthony and applications are still being looked at, however we can still use your help.

We would like to call on all Red Lions players and supporters to contact any of the selection or committee members with job possibilities they may be aware of that are currently available through your work, friends or family. Please contact me with details ASAP. Anthony has experience with youth development, volunteer organisations, hospitality and several years senior people management experience suited to a variety of roles. His CV can be provided upon request.

For our other coaching positions, we have also had several applications and held interviews, but offers to desired candidates will wait until the appointment of Senior Coach is complete so we can involve the Senior Coach in the appointment process and ensure that the coaching staff will be able to work well together.

Meetings with Key Stakeholders

Over the past few months we have met with several key stakeholders of our club to reforge and/or strengthen our relationships with them that have dwindled in recent years. These include:

• Doug Hale – Community Competitions Manager, AFLQ
• Kim Guerin – Executive Director, UQ Sport
• Shane Biddle – Senior Grounds Supervisor, UQ Property and Facilities
• UQ Sport Club Advisory Committee – consisting of several key UQ Sport executives (including UQ Sport Ltd Board Director, Richard Powell) and the Presidents of a majority of the UQ sporting clubs.
• West Juniors Bulldogs Club Committee
• Bill Bowness – One of the players in the early Red Lions team,, having played 1964-67 inclusive, who is in regular contact with most of the rest of our earliest Old Boys

We gathered an enormous amount of information from all of these meetings, but there are two key points that I would like to stress to all of you:

Every one of these stakeholders is dead keen to see the Red Lions grow and prosper.

• They are all extremely eager to help us achieve better resources, primarily facilities.
• They have all offered us access to previously untapped services and resources through their own organisations.
• They are all committed to building a mutually beneficial relationship with our club that will continue to be mutually beneficial well into the future.

Our biggest stakeholders, UQ Sport and AFLQ, have both made recent moves to become more commercially orientated.

• To facilitate this process, both have tightened up on Rules and Regulations regarding their businesses and their relationships with other entities (eg. the Red Lions)
• UQ Sport has even had us sign a formalised Club Agreement, which formally details every aspect of our relationship and dealings with them.
• What this means for us is that we now have stricter Rules and Regulations to abide by.
  • R&Rs will be enforced properly as both companies will want to prove their worth to their respective Boards of Directors.
  • We as the Red Lions in turn are having to review and upgrade our own R&Rs and develop new policies and procedures to keep us in line with those handed down from AFLQ and UQ Sport. (New R&Rs, Policies and Procedures are explained later)

Move Towards Improved Professionalism

In order to move towards improved professionalism at the Red Lions and better our standing with our stakeholders and the wider community the committee has been hard at work reviewing and upgrading our own Rules and Regulations, Policies and Procedures.

At the core of this is a program developed by the AFL for grass roots clubs called the Club Management Program. The program contains recommended procedures for structuring and maintaining a club and it’s resources, goals, policies, procedures, staff, volunteers, etc..

Code of Conduct and Senior Leadership Group

Our first new document to be brought in was the Red Lions Code of Conduct, voted in at the AGM in October. (Document attached below). This document is an adaptation of the AFL Players Association Code of Conduct and will be used to govern the behaviour and responsibilities of all members of the Red Lions.

Mentioned in this document is the Senior Leadership Group. This group will be appointed by the committee and will be made up of senior players from each of the four senior grade teams. The group will be called upon as detailed within the Code of Conduct.

I will be approaching several senior players within the club in the new year to be part of this group, however we would also like your opinion of who may be suitable for a position in this group. We are looking for responsible players who are in touch with the rest of the playing group and are keen to assist in helping keep the playing group in line. If you would like to nominate someone for the Senior Leadership Group, please let me know ASAP so I can approach that person.

I urge all of you to read the Code of Conduct and help us throughout the season by ensuring that you do not do anything to breach the rules set out in the document.

Policy on Membership and Payment of Fees

Currently in development is a policy to do with Membership within the club, Registration with AFLQ and Payment of Fees to the club.

Fees for the 2010 season will be structured differently to the 2009 season. We have decided to return to a fixed fee for all players as the staggered payment plan was determined to be too difficult to monitor.

Fees for 2010 will be as follows:

• For membership before 31^st January 2010
  • Student – $280
  • Adult – $360
• For membership after 31^st January 2010
  • Student – $280
  • Adult – $400

Please Note!

All fees have an extra $40 included in them to cover the cost of a new club shirt (currently being designed) which will be provided to all members upon payment of their fees.

The policy on membership and payment will be finalised sometime early in January 2010, but the main point of the policy will be that without payment, membership and registration will not be entered, which means players will not be permitted to participate in games and may also be requested not to participate in training.

As both AFLQ and UQ Sport tighten their R&Rs, it is important that we ensure our members are covered by the respective insurance coverage we receive from each entity. Without proper payment and registration, players will not be legally covered by the insurance and will not be permitted to play to ensure that the club, AFLQ, UQ Sport and UQ are not caught out should an accident occur.

To ensure you are not caught out by these new rules, you are all encouraged to make sure your membership and registration are properly entered and fees are fully paid as soon as possible. The appropriate forms will become available at preseason training and methods of payment will be posted to the website in the coming week.

Other Policies and Procedures

As the new season approaches the committee is becoming more tied up in getting the club ready to play in 2010, so other policies and procedures will be written up and rolled out progressively over the year.

I ask that everyone please be patient during this time and if you have any constructive feedback on anything that we deliver to the club, please feel free to send it through to me.

Training Uniforms

A new venture for the 2010 season which has been several years in the making is the introduction of training uniforms for all players. Coaching staff are requesting that all players wear the uniforms at training and at the Preseason Training Camp, uniforms will be compulsory.

We have already designed and ordered a batch of singlets and shorts which should hopefully be ready mid to late January. We are currently trying to get samples for display and sizing purposes but there is no guarantee we will get them before the batch arrives.

All sizes will be the same price of $25 for a singlet, $20 for shorts or $40 for both together. If you would like to pre-purchase your uniform to ensure you get them, please contact me and I will sort it out for you.

Social Committee and 2010 Calendar

This year instead of going with a single Social Coordinator for all social events we have decided to try out a Social Committee consisting of five or more members from all parts of the club.

At the moment I have the following people on board to help out:
Nick Mayes, Matthew Kelemen, Aaron Poole, Darren Harvey, Ben Kleverlaan and Lance Howard.

Ideally, we would also like to have one or two female members of this committee to help us cater to girlfriends/wives/etc. at social events.

If you have any suggestions for any female members of this committee, please let me know.

The calendar for 2010 is still being drafted as AFLQ has not supplied a final draw yet, however the following dates and events should be of interest to all:

• Preseason recommencing – see below for preseason info
• Preseason Players BBQ – TBA (January)
• Preseason Footy Camp – TBA (February)
• Red Lions Golf Day – TBA (March)
• Red Lions Player Auction – TBA (March)
• 1^st Practice Match – 6^th March
• 2^nd Practice Match – 13^th March
• Round 1 – 27^th March
• Easter Weekend – 3^rd April
• Round 2 – 10^th April

Preseason Training
Preseason Training will recommence next Wednesday the 6^th of January at Oakman Park, Union Street, Toowong. For the first week, training will be on Wed 6^th and Fri 8^th. All following weeks will be Monday and Wednesday night training until February when we head back to Oval 7 at UQ, at which point training will return to Tuesday and Thursday nights.

Training will start promptly at 5:30pm. All players are to be at the field before 5:30pm and must bring runners as football boots are not permitted on Oakman Park.

The training plan will be detailed to all players at the first session next Wednesday.

Request for Referrals

Finally we have come to that part where we need your help as members the most. As with any community club, we require staff, volunteers and funds to run. We are currently looking for any referrals that you as members/old boys/family/friends/etc. can give us for any of the following:

Coaches

We have had several applications for coaches but we are still looking for other possible candidates to fill coaching positions, primarily in the roles of 4^th grade and U18s coaching roles.

If you know of anyone who is currently seeking a job as a coach in a lower grade or junior capacity, please forward me their contact details ASAP.

Volunteers

Every year at the club we require the assistance of volunteers to help the club run smoothly and enable the players to do what they do best, play football.

In the past couple of years we have seen a decline in the number of volunteers and have been required to ask more and more players to assist, something that you as players did not enjoying and us as administrators did not enjoy asking you to do.

In order to reduce the number of jobs we require players to fulfil, we are aiming to greatly increase the number of non-playing volunteers at the club. For this, we need your help.

If you know of any family member, friend or associate who you believe would be a good volunteer at the club, please provide them with the attached letter and encourage them to get in contact with me and to come along and help out.

I urge everyone here to try to find at least one possible candidate each. Each new volunteer that we receive means one less job that players will be required to fulfil and will allow you as players to focus on playing and winning football games.

Sponsorship

Our club cannot run on player fees alone and we need the help of sponsors to provide us with funds, equipment or services that we need to get by. Sponsorships, however, are not only one-way and the Red Lions as a club can offer much to any prospective sponsor that wishes to sponsor us.

Attached is small booklet detailing some information about the club and some possible sponsorship packages that we have to offer, including what we as a club can offer back to a prospective sponsor.

If you own, work for or know of any business (small or large) that may be interested in sponsoring the club (or the UQ Bulldogs U18s), please forward them this booklet. If they are interested in working out a sponsorship agreement with us, please then provide me with contact details so we may make a formal proposal to that company.

Again, I urge everyone here to find at least one possible candidate each. The more sponsorship we are able to acquire for the club means improved facilities and equipment and the possibility of reduced fees for players and members as well.

Thanks to all of you in advance for any efforts you go to help us out in any of the areas above. If anyone has any questions, concerns or replies to any of the content above, please feel free to contact me a president@redlions.org.au or via mobile on 0422-494-701.

Best wishes for the New Year and hope to see you all next week for Preseason Training.

Regards,
Scott Young
On behalf of the UQ Red Lions AFC Committee