The Yass Redbacks Football Club were unable to solidify a new committee going into the 2021 season after holding an AGM on Tuesday the 6th of October.
The positions of President, Vice President and Secretary were filled, but there was no interest in the role of Treasurer. Although these are the leading four roles for the club, there are 16 more that also need to be filled.
The Yass Redbacks Football Club is not unlike many other clubs where a small group of volunteers take on numerous roles each to keep clubs operational. However, it is currently unsustainable for these volunteers to continue doing the work of so many people. Each volunteer that steps forward makes the job easier for everyone involved.
President of the Yass Redbacks Paul Jephcott spoke passionately about the contribution of the few to serve the many.
“Take Ingrid Davis for example, she coached a side, played in a side, was the media manager, presentations manager, helped out the registrar and the treasurer among other things she does for the club.”
The AGM was cut short after the role of Treasurer could not be filled and at this stage, the executive is concerned the club is at risk of folding for the 2021 season.
“Most of the roles will be available. All they take is one or two hours of somebody’s time to help out the committee and the club run instead of 5 or 6 people having to spend ten to fifteen hours plus a week. It might look daunting to take on a role, but it’s not. It’s a minimal amount of work to help the club out in a bigger sense,” said Mr Jephcott.
The 2020 season was the most disruptive season the club has seen since its founding. The outbreak of COVID-19 had the governing body, Capital Football, under unprecedented regulations which forced the season to be delayed and cut short.
The season usually begins mid-April and was delayed until July when the Canberra government gave the okay for sporting activities to resume. Due to the late start for the 2020 season, the length was significantly reduced to 11 games.
During this time, the Yass Football Club had the unenviable task of juggling registrations. Capital Football in the early stages of COVID-19 was unsure if the season was going to proceed and were waiting on regulations to be lifted. This caused stress on the club due to the teams already being finalised and people deregistering for various reasons.
The committee of the Yass Football Club banded together to make the process as pain-free as possible for the players and parents and did a fantastic job at getting the club ready for the short season. Even though there were only eight weeks played due to washouts, it was a lot of work.
The committee members taking on numerous roles each, and the added tasks set in place to maintain COVID-19 safety the 2020 season proved tiring for everyone involved.
The Summer Soccer competition that the Yass Redbacks usually run on a Friday night has also been cancelled this year. Summer Soccer is typically slated to begin the first week of October and conclude just before Christmas. However, a lot of factors went into the decision to cancel the competition this year.
The current committee did not want to run the competition this year due to the amount of work it would take to operate. There is generally a lack of volunteers to help make everything run smoothly, and this year there was no break between the winter and summer seasons. Add to that the additional regulations COVID-19 brings to running a competition, such as sign-in for tracing purposes, social distancing, and policing the one spectator per player rule and the season was deemed too much work to run effectively.
The good news is that the Yass Redbacks Football Club will hold another AGM on Tuesday the 20th of October. All the roles that were previously filled will be open again. If you have any interest getting involved and helping the club, please visit the Redbacks Facebook page for more information or email president@yassfc.com.au
By Ryan Betts
