2023 Season Wrap Up

Written By Sarah S

It’s hard to believe that we have finished the season and some of us are already playing spring/ summer football or the Sunday kick around in my case with the Mens Over 45’s (Saiala every Sunday 4 - 6pm, all welcome).

It was great to see the club out in their new kit this year, we received lots of positive feedback on the community chosen design, my personal favourite quote was ‘we are like a professional team - look at all our sponsors!’ This was a culmination of lots of hard work and a little bit of scrambling to make sure all teams had the right kit and sufficient size ranges - which proved tricky as we moved away from the classic football tent shirts of old.

We farewelled some members of the committee this year with our thanks; Tim Fuller and Ian Hinder - Coaching Coordinator, Michael Malecki - Senior Registrar and Grounds. 

We welcomed lots of new faces with either committee or supporting roles including; Che Winter - Girls, Cathy Le - Miniroos (taking on more and more), Mike Stuart - Killara Public Liaison (2nd year), Trish Rowlandson - Social Media, Rebecca Lindhout - Events, Dave Stone - Coaching Coordinator, Conor Halliday - Kit Manager/ Merchandise and Sacha Chapke - Commercial Manager. Please check out our Contacts Page for their details and the new committee structure for 2024: https://www.gordonfc.com.au/contact-us

It is great to have a near full complement although we are still looking for a Junior Coordinator and Referee Liaison Officer. The committee have a lot of fun, despite the particularly busy period of February to April and support each other well.

Lots of highlights for the year with internal and external recognition for the club and members including:

  • NFSA Female Football Award - for our efforts in promoting female participation - achieving a 78% increase in 2023. Special thanks to Robyn Martin for championing this cause for a long time with able support from Che, Sally, Sarah and Cathy

  • President’s Award - for our lovely long serving Sally Thompson, in recognition of her contribution to football. It was so nice to see Hilary Bingham an NFSA Board member and longtime GordonFC member able to give the award to Sally at the NFSA Annual Awards

  • Coaches and Managers of the year - a new award recognising the tireless heroes of our club chasing our kids up and down the sidelines every weekend. We had over 90 nominations, with the worthy winners here: https://www.gordonfc.com.au/news/coaches-and-managers-for-2023

  • Sustainable Sports Program - GFC members helping keep our sports fields clean, donating our old kit far and wide and many other projects: https://www.gordonfc.com.au/news/sustainable-sport-program-kit-collection

  • GFC received a grant from Football NSW which allowed us to offer free training for all female players: https://www.gordonfc.com.au/news/free-xlr8-training-for-our-female-players-this-season

The Matilda’s were magnificent in the World Cup, not only in their performances but their role modelling and we got behind them with various events including:


Despite being down an events coordinator, the committee and community ‘mucked in’ and we ran:

Our Seniors had another good year with growth and some success in their competitions. Highlights included:

  • Two new MAA teams, one of the teams had many players that have played with Gordon since U6s.

  • Our MAA Div 10 White team were division champions, they narrowly were defeated in the Grand Final in a penalty shoot out

  • Growth in our M045 squad

  • Seniors presentation night at the Greengate

  • M045 presentation night at the venerable Gordon Golf Club

  • And we had our first Women’s team in a summer comp and we are now recruiting for a Winter W045 team

Much of this could not have been possible without our wonderful sponsors, many new to GordonFC including The Greengate, Forestway Fresh, Priceline Pharmacy Gordon, North Shore Orthodontist, Pattisons Cafe and Strength Meals. More details: https://www.gordonfc.com.au/news/thank-you-to-gordon-fcs-new-sponsors

Finally a big thank you to the community. The number of times I get comments on how we play, our fair sport ethos, community minded and caring attitude to our players and competitors alike makes our committee role so much easier and very rewarding. 

Our strength as a club is our firm belief we are developing players AND personalities; with an understanding of teamwork, integrity, work ethic and most importantly fun! 

Win with grace, lose with dignity, always smiling. See you on a pitch somewhere soon.

Regards,

Aiden Heke, President of Gordon Football Club

Sarah S
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