Publicity and Promotions

My name is Tina Meyer and I have accepted the position of Director of Publicity and Promotions on the Macarthur Board. My aim is, obviously, to promote the game of football in our Association. Football in the Association incorporates our amateur local competition structure and our representative structure. If there is anything happening in your club that you would like to see publicised, please contact me so that we can organise it! I can only publicise those things I hear about!

In view of that, we feel that it is vital for us to deliver information to all of you as soon as we practically can. 2009 is shaping up to be a great season of consolidation for Macarthur, at all levels of football, and so I present to you some proposed changes and updates regarding things that are happening during the off-season (is there really such a thing?) that will impact on you next season.

I look forward to working with you all ... Tina

The Beginning of the Season

Round 1 of the Macarthur local competition officially kicks off on Saturday, 4th April, 2009.

This is the Saturday before Easter and the weekend before the school holidays start. Saturday, 11 th April, 2009 is the Easter weekend and NO games will be played in the Local Competition. As a result, games WILL NEED TO BE PLAYED during the middle weekend of the April holidays (18th and 19th April, 2009).

As ANZAC Day falls on a Saturday in 2009, games will be announced down the track for this date.

We appreciate that this is different to previous years but to ensure that we have some flow at the beginning of the season, these very difficult decisions needed to be made. We hope that by posting the dates now, we have given you ample time to make appropriate arrangements. As always, we continue to appreciate your support in getting kids onto the fields to play football!

Competition Structure 2009

Small sided games will commence ONLY with the Under 6 competition in 2009. More information will be forwarded to Clubs soon.

Currently there is discussion regarding an FA Cup style competition for 2009. It will be proposed that there will be eight team competitions across the board for juniors and seniors. Strategies to support canteen takings and revenue for clubs have been compiled. This style of competition also allows the heavens to pour and minimise double headers. There will be a Special Meeting of the Clubs early next year to address these proposed changes. Details to be forwarded to your Club Secretary soon!

With the growing success of the local competition's Premier League competitions, 2009 will bring (hopefully!) the inaugural year of a Premier League/Reserves competition, bringing Macarthur into line with most other Associations in NSW and a significant increase in the prize money.

The Board and Local Competition Committee are also looking into the viability of offering an Over 45s Friday night, four or five-a-side competition to be played at an independent venue. We will keep you posted - age is never a barrier in Macarthur! If you feel that you can't manage the outdoor pace, this may be your way to stay fit and to keep your love of football alive!