Our senior men competed in Finals for an incredible 6th straight year, showing the quality of the playing group to consistently battle it out with the best.
Our senior women battled it out in division one, missing finals by only half a game – an incredible achievement in only their second season.
With difficult numbers, our reserves competed throughout the year and showed that with a very strong list of under 19s coming through, that the team will bounce back strong in 2023.
Our under 19s moved up and took on division two this season and played finals for the first time since reforming in 2019, the team also had 7 players debut in the seniors – a very promising sign of the quality of players we have coming through the ranks.
Our netball teams put on another fantastic display with our black team going down in the Preliminary Final, what makes this even more impressive is that many of our players doubled up in their representation of the club by playing both football and netball.
It was also another very successful year for the junior side of our club. With record junior numbers, all our competitive teams battled it out well in B division. We also saw great individual success with a back-to-back league best and fairest in our under 13s and a top five league best and fairest in our under 12s. Our junior club continues to grow and underpin our success off the field, this was shown by the sheer number of juniors we had there supporting the club on Grand Final day. The link between our juniors and seniors has never been stronger and we are confident of adding even more teams to the club next year as we continue to grow. We will again grow our juniors in 2023 by adding possibly 2 under 8s teams and an under 16s – which will continue to close the gap between our juniors and seniors. From no juniors in 2017 to juniors up to under 16s in 2023, we are truly on an incredible journey as a club and we aren’t showing any signs of slowing down.
There were some key moments at the club this year that are worth celebrating:
We welcomed in over 400 club members.
- Our senior women were promoted to division one, and despite significant injuries were within touching distance of finals.
- Our under 19s went from division 3 to division 2 and competed in finals for the first time since 2014.
- We saw seven under 19s debut for our senior team.
- We welcomed many new players to the club.
- Zoe Cant took out the senior womens league best and fairest, while Sam Wadley finished runner-up in the mens and Mitch Jackson finished 4th.
- We also had 7 players across our two senior teams feature in the EFNL team of the year – with Brett Rowe (coach), Sam Wadley, Mitch Jackson, Tim Jones, Jack Blyth, Zoe Cant and Georgia Fairbairn all acknowledged for their incredible seasons.
- Georgia Fairbairn also claimed an extraordinary back to back league leading goal kicking award.
- We held our first ever night game with a roaring crowd!
- We hosted a massive Division three finals series with the help of a great group of volunteers.
- Our juniors again grew under the fantastic leadership of Laura Simkin and the junior committee.
- We welcomed several new sponsors who helped us grow again, including:
- Ringwood Mazda
- Tobin Brothers
- JP Flynn
- Respiratory & Sleep Services
- Rod Barton MP
- Peter Sawyer
- The Bungalow
- We saw our new clubrooms opened and new lights installed that allowed us to play night games and train under a much better standard.
Darren Ashcroft joined us for the 2020 season and has helped grow our senior women’s team to the strong 1stdivision team that they currently are. A premiership coach in 2021, Darren has left a strong mark on our club. We were excited to announce at our presentation night, that senior assistant coach, Mark Clare, will be taking over as senior women’s coach in 2023. Mark was the standout candidate, and we are excited to welcome him as senior coach next season.
Jamie Atkinson has been a dedicated member of our club for many years. With over 150 games for Ringwood, many of them as reserves captain, Akka has led from the front for the club time after time. He is stepping down for 2023 to focus on playing. Thank you to Akka for his continued dedication to the club.
We are also losing four valued committee members in 2023. After four years of fantastic service, Mat Eccles, Rick George & Kim Brown are stepping down from the committee next year. Zoe Hill also stepped down during the year to give birth to her son Jackson.
Mat has been Vice-President & Treasurer since late 2018 and has been the key driver behind ensuring that the club has returned to a stable financial position for the first time in decades.
Rick has been Commercial Manager since late 2018. Handling ordering, cooking Thursday meals, organising gameday volunteers and running finals, Rick has been a nonstop workhorse for the club.
Kim has been club secretary since late 2018. She has given 100% in everything that she has done behind the scenes and is passionate in her commitment to making our club a better place.
Zoe has been on the committee serving a variety of roles since 2016. From running netball, to organising social events, to starting a senior women’s program from scratch, to being a key member of the new pavilion working group, Zoe has helped create a legacy at the club that will never be forgotten.
I also want to give a big thank you to all our volunteers on what they have done to help the club this season. No matter the role that you undertake, each volunteer has played an integral part in the growth of our club. It is clear to every person who walks into our club that we have some of the most incredible volunteers. Whether that is the people who find the time to support the club during a busy work schedule, or those who have retired and now use their free time to spend more hours than they care to admit volunteering for the betterment of us all. So thank you to each and every one of our volunteers who have made 2022 possible, and who will make 2023 possible.
At our presentation night we announced several award recipients, Geoff Brereton was awarded the Jim Cairns best Clubperson award for his voluntary services to our club for several years, while Mark Cartwright and Brendon Kane were awarded Life Membership. Congratulations to Geoff, Mark and Brendon for their awards, they are truly worthy recipients. If you want to see all our award winners, click on the link below:
https://www.ringwoodfc.com.au/blogs/news/2022-presentation-night-award-recipients
As we turn our focus to season 2023, we are on the hunt for volunteers. If you are able to take on a role, big or small, please click on the below link to see the roles we are looking for and contact Jake.
https://www.ringwoodfc.com.au/blogs/news/volunteers-wanted-for-2023
We will be hosting the club AGM in mid November, pay attention to our website and Facebook for the date once it is confirmed.
Thank you to everyone who contributed to our club this year, whether your part of our 2022 journey was big or small, we appreciate your contribution greatly! The journey is far from over for us and we’re going to keep growing. The focus is well and truly on 2023 now and we are excited for a big year for the club!