President's Message

Dear members, players, volunteers and staff,

It is with great honour I accept the club’s nomination to be President of MetroStars Soccer Club. The club has a successful history and tradition that spans 24 seasons. This is a history that should never be forgotten, and we, the current generation of administrators and players owe it to all the club’s past members and players to keep this great club strong and vibrant as we face the challenges that confront us now and into the future.

I have noted that I will be the 4th President of the club over this 24-year period, an amazing statistic that further highlights to me the great responsibility I have taken on. I am an original Founding Member and have been involved since the clubs inception. Those who know me well can agree that I will always do the very best I can for this club and will hopefully lead a team of players, administrators and friends of the club to continue the great work done by the people before me. I will always strive to continue the development of the club, through leadership, co-operation and hard work.

I want to take this opportunity to thank the outgoing President Andrew Perrone for the work he has undertaken over the past 24 years, as a Founding Member, Junior Coordinator, Executive Committee Member and the past four as President. He has led the club admirably in a period where we have had considerable on-field success, a stable financial position and administrative strength. Also, I would like to thank the hardworking Committee and Sub Committees who have supported him over the past four years and who have been the key personnel within the “engine room” ensuring all teams make it to the field every weekend.

Our club is renowned for its positive family culture and spirit of friendship, competitive player performance and development (tough respected competitor that never gives up). Whilst we never appear to have a problem with players wanting to play for our club, we do not have enough “volunteers” to manage the increasing responsibilities involved in running a top NPL Club. It is critical to increase our “volunteer” base and spread the load so that those loyal volunteers stay invigorated and enthusiastic in their roles.

I am proud to say we now have put in place a quality executive team that will ensure focus in key areas. I am looking forward to working with them and all the club coaches, members, volunteers and players to develop and implement new strategies.

Executive Team

Franco Principle

David De Conno

Lenny Cali

Newly Elected Members

Lawrence Head

Adrian Larkin

Plan for 2019 and moving forward

1. Financial Viability - The club is financially in a stable place, but we must continue to be financially viable and ‘in the black’ for 2019 and ideally strive to establish a better safety net here. Locking in new sponsorship partnerships which will lift income. We will also be looking at a small volunteer and building levies for 2020 which will help lift income and bring us into line with other football and sports clubs. We’ll also have a focus on expanding our fundraising through a schedule of manageable events throughout the year.

2. Facility Upgrade – Work has commenced with the $1.4m facility on the new synthetic main pitch a lighting upgrade to deliver scalable lighting up to 350 lux, new coaches’ boxes and electronic scoreboard. We are confident work will be completed by the end of February ready for the commencement of the new season. Work has already started on securing grants for further infrastructure enhancements for 2019 and future upgrades.

3. Member Engagement – We will be making big steps in 2019 to develop and improve communication and engagement. We want to establish a clear strategy for next year and longer term which we effectively communicate to our life members, ex-players and members which includes a calendar of events and activities which helps build engagement inside and outside of our core football activity. Again, work has already started on this with key strategies being introduced over the coming months.

4. Core Values - We are unique as a Club in our family orientated approach which seeks to distil our core values of discipline, humility and respect. These values make us more than a Football Club as we play a very important part in developing young people to be the best they can be. Being a part of MetroStars, players learn how to be a team player as well as gaining further adult mentors. Outside home and school environments, we have a huge influence on their futures. To build on this, one of the major initiatives I would like to plan, develop and launch working with members, is the Metro Values Program. Watch this space for more information and development as we plan to launch this initiative!

5. Football Excellence Strategy – We have introduced Joe Mastrantuone and David Moffa as specialised coaches to work with technical directors Terry Frangakis and Ernie Luongo. They will be working closely together over the coming weeks to formalise our strategy for Football Excellence for 2019 and beyond. This will include specific goals for our teams, coaching development and specifically some exciting new plans to develop the ability of all our junior footballers. More to follow but be assured the boys have some big plans!

I would like to finish by just saying how excited I am about the next 12 months and beyond for our Club and I really look forward to working with our new Leadership Team, our Coaches, Volunteers and most importantly our Members.

Yours truly,

Robert Rende

President