President Matt Dempsey gave this speech at the Registration Day. A lot has been happening over the off season. Read on to find out what…

Good afternoon everybody,

My name is Matt Dempsey, and I’ve been appointed as President of the PFCC for this year.

I would like to welcome you all today to our season launch and registration day.

Earlier this year a new committee was formed. Firstly, we have created a formal organisational structure with appointed roles for each committee member. I’d like to take this opportunity to formally introduce each person.
Our Vice president is Nicholas Ryan. Nicholas has contributed a power of work in the past months in all areas of the club. He has been a key driver in creating the structure of the committee and keeping us moving in the right direction. We now have clearly defined roles and responsibilities which not only allows for productive work and project flow, but also hopefully allows for continued future progression. It will allow us to utilize the skills and experiences of the right person in the right position.

Our club secretary (and superstar div 1 scorer) again is the wonderful Philipa Hodgens. Phillipa brings years of experience to the club and a valued view in regards to our place in the WDCA. Philipa will also be the contact person for all merchandise sales. Our senior coach Aaron Williams has done a great job in arranging this seasons apparel. A full range can be purchased or ordered through Phillipa or TeamApp.

One of the newly created roles this year is financial controller. Damian Gleeson has taken on this role which oversees all financial aspects of the club. During the off season, Shaun Ploneges has taken on the role of Sponsorship and Corporate Partner Manager and with Damian. Shaun has done a great job updating our sponsorship packages and is actively working to continue and grow our corporate presence and support within the community. For anyone interested in becoming a member or sponsor of the PFCC contact Shaun.

Our Grounds and Facilities Manager is Wally Sheehan who will lead his team to maintain and deliver the best facility in south west victoria, a very privileged position we are in indeed. Having such wonderful facilities does not happen without people like Wally and all the guys. This allows not only a wonderful facility for us to play and train on, but also is a drawcard in attracting new players and provides a great spot to watch the games during the summer months.

Another of our newly created roles this season is that of Social Manger. This role will be filled by Tony Jackson. The committee has recognised that we need to work more actively to make the club a fun, family friendly and inclusive place to be. Plugger will be the key driver behind this.

We also have a keen focus on ensuring that our players, families, supports and sponsors have the opportunity to be kept informed of all the activities this season. Richard Hodgens has been appointed our Communications Manager and will oversee our communication channels. These include facebook, twitter, instagram and our TeamApp. Please make sure you keep an eye on these as all important info will be posted on there. We will keep you informed about our social dates, playing information, merchandise sales, images from around the club, cricket news, sponsor profiles, player interviews etc.

The other two key committee roles this season are our Junior and Senior Coordinators. Tim Covey is our Senior Coordinator and Mike West is our Junior Coordinator. Tim’s role as senior coordinator is to provide support to our senior coaches, captains and players and also to represent to the senior cricketers at committee level. He has a wealth of playing experience and provides a wonderful balanced view and rational thinking. He will also oversee our mentoring program which will run tuesday nights this season, a program implemented to engage former players and community leaders to help our players improve as cricketers and people.

And one of the most important roles on the committee this year is that of Junior Coordinator. We are very pleased the Westy has taken on this role. The committee has identified that we need to really invest heavily in the junior side of the club over the next few seasons with the understanding that we need to create clear, well organised pathways and opportunities for our juniors. With such a large amount of local children aged between 4 and 17, we have recognised that these kids will become the future of our club.

Our organisational structure and roles are available for all people to view on our TeamApp. I’d also like to mention that we are aiming to field two junior female teams this season which would be a wonderful outcome for the club and a further indicator of the great increase in female participation in cricket. Nicholas Ryan or Brooke Green are the best people to talk to about this if you are interested in playing or helping out in any way.

Throughout the season we will also have jumping castles while the cricket is on to encourage the kids to come down. After the game we will also have food and sometimes music to encourage everyone to stay around a bit longer.

Finally I’d like to encourage everyone to get behind the pirates this season. We are an inclusive and supportive club and would love for you to all be involved, whether thats as a player, volunteer, supporter or sponsor. We are still looking for some team managers, sausage sizzle cookers, scorers and bar staff. Nicholas Ryan is the man to see if you feel you can contribute in anyway at all, please see him.

Best of luck on field to the seniors and juniors this season.