The Blues Executive team meets every month on the first Monday, at a random office building, to discuss and action club activity. Here are some key updates from our April 3rd meeting.

Pre-season Dues

Pre-season training fees are $20/session, to a $120 max. The women’s team has done a great job collecting and staying up-to-date with pre-season training fees.  The men’s team has been slightly less diligent.  Men’s VP Richard/Tails/Wilco will be following up with you!

The Exec clarified that pre-season dues are free for first-year players (rather than experienced footy players who’ve joined the club this year.)

In previous years the Club has lost money on pre-season training; the target is for this year to break even.

Social Events

April has many events coming up, under the supervision of newly-minted VP Social Tristan “Thor” Thormann (2 n’s).

• Jumper Presentation Night – this is the “must-attend” event of the pre-season. Friday May 12th.  Location TBD (Paupers, O’Grady’s)
• High Park v Blues ANZAC Day pre-season afterparty, Saturday April 29th.  Location, somewhere on Cherry St.
• Moustache Bashe – the premier moustache-themed event that kicks off the years 5th quarters, Saturday May 27th. Location TBD (Madison Ave Pub), following Game 1.

.. with more events in the pipe.  Commitment was made to release a Social Calendar PDF after our official season fixture is set by AFL Ontario.

The events from March, including the AFLW Grand Final, were considered a great success.  The 50/50 draw winnings were donated back to the club by Benny. What a guy.

Team Bond0

The men’s and women’s teams have team events on April 8th and April 15th respectively, organized by coaching staff (Chopper and Benny) and VPs (Tails and VP Women’s Michelle).  Details are highly secretive and distributed via Facebook chatter.

Communications

The team mailing list has been updated with current members / valid addresses. The Exec mailing will be updated by VP Comms, Natalie by next Exec meeting.

We’re kicking off a “Marketing Committee” to take advantage of the mailing list, like in the good old days, and send relevant team updates via email.

For game day information, the Blues are committing to another year of the TeamStuff app, which was a success last year.

Sponsorship

Finance Manager Arlen and President Buddy went to visit with Big Rock to discuss sponsorship. The offer of slightly cheaper beer was enticing, but the sponsor arrangement probably wasn’t going to be as good as what VP Sponsorships and Partners, Blessing, has been unearthing …

Blessing has offers in flight from many athletic equipment and service providers to be primary sponsors for the Women’s team, and we hope to choose one by May 10th (before the Jumper Presentation Night).

Finalizing sponsorship arrangements with TAZ Construction will resume when Tristan gets back from Australia.

Bar Homestand is not a Blues sponsor; though the Exec has appreciated how our events have gone at the bar, so will continue meeting there for beers.

Training for April/May

VP Finance Bruce has recommended that we train at Bickford Park on April 29th, May 6th, and May 13th (in the period between Lamport and Cherry Beach) in anticipation of booking that field for Thursday training.

Columbus, OH Trip

Our Columbus trip is fast approaching! April 21 – 23.  Room lists are being discussed on Facebook, but due to the hotel 2 weeks ago; nice Gary.  Bruce motions that he’s pissed that we dragged our feet here. Driving arrangements are being handled immediately so there’s more certainty.

Final costs to be decided by Bruce and Arlen ASAP based on minimum commitments and 28 players attending.  The current proposal is $110/night/Blue.  All costs will be handled by the Club; player costs will be due before we depart.

Recruitment

The Blues men’s team has less committed Canadian players than in previous years, and this has to be a major focus for VP Recruiting Katrina, and the rest of the Club!

Get around us,

Pres. Buddy/Trumpy/Dariusz on behalf of the Exec