Welcome Back 2014

The Old Reds are back for 2014 ... the blog has been dormant for the off season ... but it doesn't mean we have been dormant. We have been doing fitness and skills training every Wednesday since November and have been doing team training since January. It is looking like another massive year for the basketball club following the most successful season in the history of the club.

2014 sees the A's start their campaign for a decade in the A Grade Grand Final - which must be one of the longest streaks in SA sports right now. The B's look to establish themselves again as one of the top A Grade sides and make their 1st A Grade Grand Final. The C's are looking to go back to back. The D's and E's are wanting to get to the top of the ladder after falling just short last year. The F's are rebuilding after an 18-0 season and the G's hope to follow up their reserve title win with a shot at the big dance. The girls are back with the same lineup as last year ... I think this is their year!

Strap yourselves in this is gonna a be a bumpy ride of highs and lows and a long and somewhat boring blog post about marriages, team selection, AGMs and Lawn Bowls.

Before I start I would like to, on behalf of the club, send congratulations to Matt Williams and Corey Gaard who got married over the weekend (not to each other) and to J-J-J-James Baker who will be getting married soon. Congrats lads – may your marriages bring you a lifetime of fulfilment with minimal nagging.   

To basketball - it is looking likely that the Saturday season is starting on Saturday May 3 this year (games will be between 1-6pm).  This is to be confirmed. Most teams will again be at the Powerhouse or Cedar … again to be confirmed. We are looking to nominate 7 teams again and asking for them to be in the same or similar grades as last year.

I have managed to speak to most of you over the last few weeks about Saturday teams for this year. As with every season, we have had some major changes to player personnel.  The B’s have lost 4 players and this then has a flow on effect through the whole club – we have also lost some key guys from the D’s, E’s and F’s. We also have a few guys going away for big parts of the season so putting teams together has been very tough.

Again, as with every year, a lot of thought goes into putting together each side – it is a task that isn’t taken on lightly and we need to factor in many different things when deciding teams – namely – chemistry, mix of youth and veterans, future planning and rewarding potential, getting the balance of size, speed, ballhandlers, shooters, defenders, rebounders, role-players in each side … and not least of all personal preference. It is a difficult task – we are mindful to make sure to explain all decisions in honest and frank with manner and if you want to discuss your selection please feel free to contact me via email, text, Facebook, phone or in person – I will sit down and have a chat with you about the reasons behind the decision. Sometimes decisions are made on behalf of the club and teams over individual preferences … sometimes those are tough decisions but hopefully they are thought out informed decisions.  These decisions are not final – but they are pretty close to being the final squads … if you want to chat and talk about changing your team please feel free (last year we made a few late changes and we always factor this in). This is something that we put a lot of effort into because we know getting it right leads to winning premierships and preparing for the future (see; 4 premierships in 2013).

I will say “just because I want to play with my mates” is not a deciding factor for picking teams … if you want to play with your mates … start a social team.

Finally – unlike previous years – this year I believe there will be opportunities to move teams during the season. There will be some vacancies in some of the teams opening through players going away … so it is important to play hard, be a good teammate, get to training if possible because we take note of all of these things.

We welcome back a number of old faces (including a former club champion) and we have recruited 3 new players (at this stage in the F’s) who are friends of guys in the club. There have been a few guys who have moved teams – made possible by a couple of guys moving to a lower grade. It is this kind of unselfishness that creates the winning culture of our club.  

So to the teams – even though you would have looked already. 

A			B
Jack	Harford		Ben	Palk
Corey	Gaard		Ryan	Williams
Josh	Orken		Lachlan	Campbell
Liam	Golding		Phil	Farrer
Tom	Hobbs		Tom	Oliphant
Tauny	Schmidt		Jono	Self
Phil	Harford		Angus	Crawford
John	Foo		Kartik	Arye
			Mick	Hill

C			D
Nathan	Graham		Simon	Miller
Mitch	Kirkham		Jay	Nguyen
Brad	Hughes		Brendon	Francesca
Matt	Williams		Jon	Read
Mark	Henderson		Stu	MacDonald
Andrew	Good		Josh	Moorfoot
Nick	Krantz		Ned	Young
Tim	Wong		Chris	Woodrow

E			F
Matt	Just		Mark	Waters
Mark	Powell		Jon	Hanzalik
Brad	Daniel		Matt	Trim
Cam	Smith		Ben	Orken
James	Pritchard		Andrew	Hough
Alex	Bubner		Tone	Trinh
Mike	Tye		Tom	Lulgjuraj
Daniel	Foo		Mike	Nitschke
			Phil	Walker

 

G
James	Townsend
Nigel	Hickman
Sam	Karamoshos
Will	Harmer
Tom	Huxtable
Reid	Amos
Troy	Tirrell
Udit	Lakra

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AGM

The Prince Alfred Old Collegians Basketball Club will have its Annual General Meeting at Prince Alfred College @ RED Centre (after training) – 7.30pm on Tuesday 8th of April.

Members interested in being involved in the running of the club are encouraged to attend. A draft agenda has been circulated to your email. If you would like for a matter to be added to the agenda, or if you would like to suggest a date change for the social calendar please let me know.

If you are unable to attend, but would like to be a committee member for the coming year please let me know.

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Social Event #1 - Old Red Lawn Bowls

The first social function for the year is a new idea – it is the 1^st Annual Old Reds Lawn Bowls Tournament.

We are going to run a $10 to enter knockout, winner takes all Lawn Bowls tournament. All participants will be put into a hat – draw an opponent at random – each match will consist of 2 ends, the winner advances and the loser is knocked out and will have to comfort themselves with the joys of alcohol. If you are thinking … “pfffft Lawn Bowls Palky … that sounds lame”. Trust me, it is a stack of fun, we have the great venue all night, drinks are cheap, we can play our own music and have the run of the place … it is like a pub but with a sport we can compete in at the same time.

1^st Annual Old Reds Lawn Bowls Tournament Details:

When: Friday 11^th April (6.00pm for 6.30pm start)

Where: Adelaide Lawn Bowls Club (opposite PAC on Dequetteville Tce).

Cost: $20 - $10 to enter tournament and $10 for lawn bowls hire. Buy own drinks.

Please RSVP to me … I am not sure why I write this because none of you ever RSVP and I end up texting you all or Facebook’ing you.

All friends, family and partners welcome. 

Palky