Welcome everyone to our 1st monthly newsletter of 2021!
In January we held our AGM, and since then there has been a frenetic amount of activity as the club prepares for the 2021 season, which commences with the NPLW Night Series tomorrow evening when we play against Balcatta at Dorrien Gardens at 5 pm.
All our teams are training enthusiastically in pre-season to get fit and build on their skills, and the NPLW squad are experiencing the benefits of specialized strength and conditioning training from our fitness partners Body Fit Training. All coaches are happy with the commitment displayed by their players and are optimistic for the coming season.
We should also mention that there has been news of current and ex-players during the last couple of months.
In the W league, Sarah Carroll has been displaying some great form for Perth Glory, whilst Morgan Aquino and Kim Carroll are enjoying success with Brisbane Roar, who are currently second in the league. Morgan was recently awarded save of the round for a superb stop against Western Sydney Wanderers.
We are very proud of all three players and wish them the best of luck for the rest of the season.
There's also been exciting news on the professional and personal front for 2 of our ex-players, with Nicola Williams recently being appointed assistant coach for the women's team for Italian giants, Lazio. She will be assistant to her wife, and Italian football legend Carolina Morace, who also had a brief tenure at the club in 2013. Congratulations and best wishes to them.
Meanwhile, in England, Bristol City head coach and another ex-player, Tanya Oxtoby, has recently stepped down from her coaching duties as she prepares for the birth of her child, and we send our very best wishes to Tanya.
Several intra and inter-club friendlies have been scheduled and the canteen is being prepared for business on those days. Equipment stock takes have been occurring and the pitches will soon be marked out and ready for goal installation.
Registrations are now open, and the club committee has set a deadline of 31 March 2021 for registrations to be completed. This includes the payment of fees in full. Payment plans can and will be negotiated with the club treasurer if needed. Full details are here along with a complete breakdown of where your money goes. We also ask that players and families read the club documents that have been circulated with the registration details. All volunteers and players/families are asked to sign the Member Agreement. The Club has a duty of care to all players and volunteers and the documents have been reviewed primarily to protect the interests of our members. Our club relies on volunteers and more hands make lighter work for all. Please talk to your team manager or a committee member if you have a skill that could be useful to the club.
An important date for your diaries is the official season launch which is on Sunday 14th March at 1 pm at Celebration Park. Our platinum sponsors Epiroc will be joined by silver sponsors Saraceni and Total Concrete our fitness partners BFT and our patron to present life memberships to current NPLW players Carla Bennett and Emily Dunn, former player and current Lazio Assistant Coach, Nicola Williams and former President, VP, Treasurer, Registrar and Coach, Keith Anderson. NPLW shirt presentations will round off what promises to be an enjoyable day of celebration.
There are always things to do at the club, but our most immediate task is finding a new NPLW standard home venue to play matches at. This was made necessary when the Olympic Kingsway Sporting Club decided to terminate the Memorandum of Understanding with our club after one year. Discussions are underway with another club for a venue for 2021 and we are hopeful of a resolution soon. This highlights the necessity for building political support for hubs appropriate for elite women’s football, and the committee is developing a campaign for one such hub in the northern suburbs and meetings with key political figures have already commenced. The original vision behind the formation of the Northern Redbacks Women’s Soccer Club back in 2003, was to establish the club as a leader in women's football, and we feel there is a demand for football clubs that focus primarily on the development of female footballers. Our record of success is a testament to our progressive culture of innovation, and the demand for equity for female footballers will be advocated by this club in the coming years.
Yours in women’s football,
Tony Mullen, President