Community Report

Another season of WAFL and another Premiership for the Subiaco Football Club. As I sit and write this report I reflect on the three years I have been on the board. We have celebrated three premierships over three different grades and three undefeated years for our futures program. Let’s hope the fourth season carries on this tradition.

Naturally, a playing list consistently displaying exemplary onfield leadership will carry that into their communities and this year we have given back in various impactful ways.

Wheelchair Football:

Since our last annual report, the WA Wheelchair Football League wrapped their inaugural season. Alongside East Perth and Swan Districts, we played off in a round-robin final series with East Perth coming out on top. Subiaco lost a couple of our star players due to representing Australia in their given sports but we were all very proud of how our team went. This is just another example of the game we love being accessible to everyone. 2022 is the first year that WA will be sending a team to the national championships hosted in Melbourne at the end of November. Subiaco has one representative who has been chosen to captain the side, Ryan Zilioli. We wish Ryan and the team the best in the championships and hope they can follow in WAs rich winning history of state representation.

Loan a Lion:

The club is passionate about giving back to our members so this year we kicked off a new initiative ‘Loan a Lion’. Four of our Colts players, Jack Gouge, Josh Bell, Jake Evitt and Ethan Barbieri spent their free time helping out at Garry Underhill’s place in the garden. We encourage our supporters and members to get in touch with the club if you have a job you think some fit young players can help out with.

Ladies Day:

A highlight on the season’s calendar for our ever supportive mothers, daughters, wives, girlfriends and members is Ladies’ day. Presented by Little Things Gin we were treated to a gin bar serving up some amazing mixes alongside Backyard Booch Co and their Kombucha cocktails. Champagne on arrival had the women ready for a great afternoon of fashion parades put on by the wonderful girls from Global Roaming’s Girl’s FX program draped in exquisite pearl jewellery from Pearls of Australia and silks designed and printed by local aboriginal artists. We had over $2000 door and raffle prizes donated by Subiaco FC-supported businesses such as Keturah Day Spa, Quest Holiday apartments, West Coast Dress hire and many others. The guests in the room were treated to personal videos recorded by our players in tribute to the special women in their lives. Some showed their appreciation of their mothers, and some showed a lot more. Fittingly following the event the annual players’ review, ‘Subi’s Got Talent’ entertained the women well into the night. Dela and his team back to back to back streak ended with Marshy and his scantily clad boys wishing they were punk rockers.

Club Initiatives:

This year again we supported the Walk for Him campaign raising funds and awareness for Prostate Cancer and the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia. The cause is close to the hearts of some of our staff members including myself so it was special to be named as the number one walking team in the country with 74 members raising a combined $17,756. During Men’s Health Week our team members walked over 49,000 steps each, finishing with a recovery walk with our supporters and dogs at Leighton beach on Sunday. Subi Sports Bar facilities are a great place to hold all sorts of events and we are proud to offer the room to local charities to use for fundraising nights free of charge. Some of the organisations we supported are: Melanoma WA, Perth Homeless Support Group, 100 Women, Youngbloods Australia the Australian Federation Party and more.

In round 5 we headed to Kalgoorlie to play our first regional game in a few years. It’s a great opportunity for our players and staff to engage with our zone and to speak to everyone involved in the development of the many players that come through our system. We were able to facilitate a club & coaching seminar at Boulder Oval, ran sessions with our Lions Pride program with Nigel Hamilton and ran an important indigenous cultural session hosted by local elder, Trevor Donaldson with the local community. It is a priority of ours to work closely with the local community and clubs to ensure football also provides opportunities off the field. We had a great turnout despite the weather for the main game on Saturday vs Swan Districts and came home with a hard-earned win.

North Perth Community Bank Cup supported by the North Perth Community Bank is played vs our neighbours, East Perth each year. The day brought blustery winds and pouring rain which put a dampener on the usual kid’s activities and on-field activations, but we are thankful to the NP Community Bank, which is our major Community Partner, for not only the support for the game but also what we can achieve through our local grassroots activities. In the lead up to the WAFL’s Think Mental Health Round, we hosted a BBQ after training sponsored by ‘Talk to a Mate’ a Reginal Men’s Health Initiative and Think Mental Health. Chayce Creedy our Colts coach who is also on the board of the RMHI spoke to the group about wellness and the importance of starting a conversation. “Every year players are more open to talking about their mental health and taking time out when they need to,” Creedy said. “They’re making sure the balance and understanding of mental health is important, which is a positive thing. NAIDOC Round is a special one on the WAFL calendar for all teams. In the year when the Indigenous flag had been ‘freed,’ there were even more reasons to Get Up! Stand Up! Show Up! Uncle Neville Collard once again welcomed us to country both on the field and at our Presidents Luncheon. The players walked through the smoking ceremony to Uncle speaking about everyone working together like a footy team does to achieve a safe and prosperous community in which we can all live. Gather Foods, a majority Aboriginal owned business headed up by Gerry Matera catered an incredible lunch that provided a premium native food-inspired menu. Each year we have SEDA kids carry out vocational work inside the club where they get the opportunity to learn from leading industry experts, coaches and elite athletes. We had two students play in our Colts team Ryan Newick and Tyler Senge and two representing the SEDA/Fremantle Dockers Sport, Business and Leadership program, Dylan and Rohan Annear who worked closely with Beau and Jamie in the footy operations department. The club is privileged to offer these opportunities each year to the next generation of Subi players, coaches or administrators and wishes them luck in their chosen careers.

Subiaco FC and Leederville Oval hosted the 16th Annual Con Regan Memorial Football Game on the 30th of October. This game brings together players from across Perth in a grudge match of North Vs South. The teams consist of Policemen and women playing in their respective games all in the name of raising much-needed funds for WA Police Legacy. Con Regan was a police officer turned footballer who played more than 250 games for East Fremantle in the ‘50s and ‘60s and was the first-team manager for the Fremantle Dockers. He sadly passed away in 2007 at age 72 while on a cruise in Canada. Over $21,000 was raised at the game and it was a great day to recognise the men and women of WA’s Police force.

Kristi Annear

Board Director