Ainslie Football and Social Club Limited 2010 Annual Report

President’s Message // cont
In 2010 the Board of Directors’ agreed to sponsor
the GWS4ACT initiative for the Western Bulldogs v
Sydney Swans match as match day sponsor. In addition,
the board, in line with its primary objective of
developing Australian Football, agreed to a long term
funding agreement with Greater Western Sydney that
will ensure an AFL presence here in the ACT for 40
games over the next ten years. This was seen as a once
in a generation opportunity for the AFL community
of the ACT to achieve a meaningful place in the
National game.
This partnership provides for the GWS Giants to
participate with other AFL Canberra clubs in the newly
announced North Eastern Australian Football League
and provides local talented juniors a pathway to the
AFL level.
The club continues its funding to the Gungahlin Jets
Football Club to foster the development of Australian
Football in this region.
Group Management continued to face complex
issues and challenges throughout the year. Management
is to be commended on their ability to deal with
these challenges with a renewed focus on member
experience and team work. I am happy to report
that significant focus on member experience through
the selection of the right personnel has meant a
significant amount of favorable comments being
expressed to management and the board of directors
from satisfied members.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank Directors
for their valuable contribution throughout the past
year. The Board has worked very hard to progress
the construction of the Gunghalin Lakes Golf Club
expansion and refurbishment over frequent and
prolonged meetings to ensure the best outcomes
for members and other beneficiaries of the
group’s operation.
Ainslie Football Club
What a magnificent result for the Ainslie Senior team,
winning the club’s first senior premiership since 1997.
Ainslie finished the home and away season as the
most convincing local team this season. They had a
comprehensive win over Sydney Swans Reserves in
the 2nd Semi-Final in very wet conditions to earn the
right to play in the Grand Final. Eastlake prevailed over
Sydney Swans Reserves to earn the right to contest
the Grand Final. Whilst it was a close contest all day,
Ainslie was never really challenged by its opponent
Eastlake and ran out convincing winners.
The Reserves continued their improvement from
2009 and after a slow start to the 2010 season,
proved to be one of the stronger contenders in
the competition. They outplayed Eastlake in the first
semi final to progress to the preliminary final against
Belconnen. The boys were superbly led by coach
Anthony Bourke and were extremely unlucky losing
on the last kick of the day. This was a heroic effort
given the unavailability of three senior players Corey
Baxter, Lachlan Highfield and Jeremy Hirst (who
played too many senior games in 2010).
The Women’s team continued its successful run and
participated in the Grand Final for the third year in
a row. In a thrilling contest, the women’s team went
down by 13 points to Tuggeranong.
The Under 18’s participated in the finals for the
second successive year, finishing the season as minor
premiers. Two disappointing losses meant the team
was not able to contest the Grand Final.
Junior representation was again strong with the
U/12 and U/14 Division One team participating in
Grand finals. The U/12’s finished the season strongly,
contesting the Grand Final from fourth position and
proved to be a gallant opponent with a narrow loss.
The U/14’s under coach Greg Bishop, were able
to secure a Grand Final victory over St Edmunds.
The future looks bright for our club from a junior
perspective.
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