December 2011 Update
The second year of our five year project is coming to a close and although we are yet to see any vast improvements to our home we have well and truly put the foundations in place and (hopefully) we’ll start to see some results of our hard work very soon.
The “T2015” committee met with our council counterparts on Tuesday 29th November to discuss the next steps after we missed out on the state governments “Strengthening the World Game” grant of $100,000. The council have said that they’ll be re-applying for the next round of submissions (end Jan 2012) and after discussions with Sport & Rec they are very confident that we’ll be successful this time around. Last time there were 11 successful submissions and apparently we came 12th!! This time the council intends to increase the total project cost of the clubroom re-development to around $350,000.
The installation of a ring drain around the bottom pitch is expected to start mid-December (weather permitting) which will improve drainage on that pitch by around 30-40%. The council will also top dress and seed the top pitch in March so we’ll also see marked improvements on that pitch for the start of the season.
Longer term the council have said that the top pitch will be completely renovated and the bottom pitch will have lateral drainage channels installed at the end of 2012 subject to the approval of council funding in next years (2012/2013) budget. This is a fantastic result for us as this work was initially scheduled for 2018 prior to the start of our “T2015” project.
Once again we’ll be asking you to dig deep in 2012 to help towards the club’s contribution of $75,000 for the re-developments. So far we have raised close to $30,000 which in one year is a terrific result. Sponsorship and fundraising are our main sources of revenue so if you have any suggestions for 2012 or would like to run with a fundraising idea please see one of the committee members.
We as a club need to keep focused on the end goal. If you have any ideas for improvements around the place, big or small, or you would like to know what the project will deliver please come and talk to me.
Regards,
Keith Pentland
Towards 2015 Project Manager
What we are hoping to achieve with the Towards 2015 project? – A quick summary!!
In 2005 the Montrose Soccer Club fielded two senior men’s teams and the club was close to folding due to dwindling player numbers and a lack of enthusiasm. We survived (obviously) thanks to new members breathing new life into this great club of ours. This year (2011) we can boast 230 senior men, ladies and junior players plus many more social members and our expected growth figures show us having 350+ playing members by the end of 2014. Most of this growth will come through the Juniors. But even without this growth as you can see we are bursting at the seams. We lack adequate changing rooms and our pitches are of poor quality and often mean when the wet weather hits we can’t play as many games as we need to at our home ground at Keith Hume Fraser Reserve.
In 2010 the Towards 2015 project was born. 2015 will mark the 40th anniversary of the Montrose Soccer Club so with this date in mind we established a 5 year strategic plan to deliver the much needed improvements to the facilities at Keith Hume Fraser Reserve. By the time our 40th anniversary rolls around we hope to have new change and storage rooms, updated clubrooms and new playing surfaces.
Below you will find a link to our Strategic Plan should you wish to download a copy.
Our plan and vision has been well received by the Yarra Ranges Council and they are backing our vision for the future. Here is an extract from the Yarra Ranges Council recent submission for funding under the State Government’s Strengthening the World Game program.
“In dealings with local sporting clubs Council has encouraged them to take a strategic approach to seeking improvements to facilities for the benefit of their members. The Montrose Social Soccer Club is an outstanding example of a club that has embraced this message and made considerable effort to develop a professional strategic/business plan for achieving its objectives over a five year planning horizon”.
Download or view the Towards 2015 Strategic Plan by clicking here
T2015 Committee
Keith Pentland (Chair)
Bob Jackson
Al Symons
Ben Clark
Ron Verniers
James Fitzsimons
Andrew Brush
