INGLEWOOD INKLINGS
Our first game is finally upon us, welcome everyone to Hibernian Hotel Oval for our first match of season 2013.
Looking back at last season, we would like to congratulate the Under 17s on finishing 2nd during the home and away season. Unfortunately, despite a huge effort, only having 15 or 16 players available for the finals was just too big a hurdle for the boys and they bowed out in the first semi final. Well done on a fine season, the supporters and senior grade footballers enjoyed watching the boys put on a display every weekend.
To top the season off, Josh ‘Dogga’ Essex took out the Stephen Dowling Memorial Trophy for the League Under 17s Best & Fairest, while Jarrod ‘George’ Starr was the league’s leading goalkicker. Also amongst the award winners at league level was Joel Stevenson, who was awarded the LVFL Rising Star Award. Congratulations boys!
Congratulations also to the C Reserve Netballers, the club’s sole representatives on Grand Final day, who narrowly missed out on taking the premiership. Well done girls!
Speaking of the Grand Final, we can’t say enough about the way the club hosted the day. Well done to everyone involved in the planning of the event, and thanks to everyone who volunteered on the day, it was a huge success for the Inglewood Football Netball Club.
The following day we held our Vote Count and Presentation Day. It was great to see such a big crowd gathered for the day. Congratulations to Joel Stevenson, Jack Smith and Josh Essex who took out the respective Best & Fairests, as well as all other trophy winners on the day.
Over the off-season we appointed 4 new coaches, with Josh Hutchinson and Tim Wicks taking on the senior coaching roles, and Tim McCormick and Jack Smith stepping up to coach the reserves. Leigh Lamprell will continue as Under 17s coach after sharing the role with Jon Starr in 2012. We wish our coaches all the best for 2013 and urge everyone to give them their full support.
To our 3 outgoing coaches, Stewie Balnaves, Mal McLean, and Jon Starr, thanks for your efforts, and I’m sure in the not-to-distant future you will be able to take great pride in the role you played in developing the success of this club.
Since the appointment of our coaches, we have seen a wave of new faces come into the club. Well done to Wade, Wicksy and Hutchy on signing up so many new recruits, with special mention to Pat Hartney, our one-man recruiting machine. It has been a long time since we’ve seen 40 and 50 blokes consistently on the training track during pre-season at Inglewood. The Inglewood Football Netball Club welcomes all new players and their families to the club.
The club has had 3 solid hit-outs in the weeks leading into today, against Stanhope, Wandella and Harcourt, with plenty of positives coming out of these matches. One big dampener was the serious knee injury to one of our promising new players in Josh Smith. The club wishes Josh a speedy recovery.
Off the field, the club has managed to secure a naming rights sponsorship deal with the Hibernian Hotel, Golden Square. Our home ground will now be known as Hibernian Hotel Oval. We thank the Hibernian Hotel and all our other sponsors for their generous support.
Our footballers will wear black armbands today in memory of club great, Eddie Harrison, who passed away a few weeks ago. Eddie was a member of the 1958 premiership side and coached the team in 1959. The fact that Eddie ranked 4th in our Team of the Century is a measure of his abilities as a footballer. Eddie remained a strong supporter of the club many years after his playing days.
The last time we met Newbridge we were on the end of a 165 point hiding. Last year’s runners up appear to be on track for another strong season, so this will be a great test to see just how far we have come as a club. Let’s get that winning feeling going early with three wins today.
SOCIAL NEWS
Tonight sees our Op-Shop Ball/Disco at the clubrooms, with tea available for $10. Looking forward to seeing some of the get-ups for our first function for the season. Next weekend, following the matches against Calivil United, we will hold our Players Auction. Starting saving your pennies and be on the lookout for that bargain lot.
Don’t forget you can check out the latest news and information on the club’s website: www.inglewoodfc.vcfl.com.au.
Carn the Blues!
Last Modified on 15/04/2013 08:46