AGM Presidents Report 2011

As the term of this executive draws to an end I would like to reflect on what has been a very big year for the club. Following last year’s AGM the committee set out to achieve a number of things which flowed out of two main objectives:

• Rebuild the Club Membership and
• Renew the energy and culture of the club by giving members something to do when they came together and making members feel welcome, included and part of the club.

Our motto was “If you build it they will come” and I am proud to say you did. At the first Club Night meeting in August 2010 we had 37 financial members, 9 of those being committee members. At the end of June 2011 our membership was in excess of 165, I am sure you will agree this is a huge turnaround.

 Our monthly Club nights featured guest speakers which included some of our own talented anglers as well as guests from outside of the club. A highlight on the calendar was the inaugural Flathead Classic Launch Night in August which saw over 150 people attend. This was a bumper night and certainly set the ball rolling on our rebuild and renew mission. Our attendance to monthly club nights increased and averaged at 50+ people with some months being much higher. We continued to offer a free sausage sizzle and offset these costs through our monthly raffles and bar sales.

 Despite some pretty awful weather the Club delivered a very successful 2010 Flathead Classic which saw the highest participation rates ever. The event welcomed back many of our previous sponsors including long term supporters Blue Fin Boats who were joined by new Platinum sponsors Carlton Mid, TT Lures, White Water Marine/Suzuki and a host of other lower level sponsors. Other than our marquee event the club has also delivered a number of activities which included:

Easter Bream Classic sponsored by: Lowrance, TT Lures/ZMan, Pure Fishing, Engel, Battery Traders and Gold Coast Fishing Tackle The comp was fished by 32 teams and won by club member Dan Folley and his Uncle Phil Shaw

The Dash 4 Cash Bream events sponsored by TT Lures /ZMan the 2 Boats fished the first event 1st event which was won by Club members Tracey Mammen & Darren Borg the next round is on next weekend Sunday 24th

A club trip to the ABT Clarence Flathead Round where club members featured strongly in the field. •And a number of club comps and a camping trip with prizes donated by TT Lures/ZMan

A Christmas party for members at the VMR headquarters.

Along with these events the participation rates in our monthly club catch comps and our annual point has increased significantly and we have given away over $3000 of Doug Burt’s tackle World Gift Vouchers. I encourage more of you to become involved in the club catch comps and comp days in 2011/12. I would like to formally acknowledge and thank all of our sponsors for their support of our events, activities, comps and raffles over the past year. We have some great relationships with our sponsors and are in an excellent position to bring value to our partnerships.

 A number of other initiatives have occurred in support of our rebuild & renew agenda 

•  We had club Polo shirts made which identified members, promoted the club and contributed to the sense of belonging
• A major initiative was the new website which was launched on May 16th. There have already been 2024 visits to the site by 1108 unique visitors. The site provides the capacity to have online event registration and secure payment. This tool will provide us with an excellent means of promoting the club our activities and enhance our presence which will be a great benefit in securing sponsors. This project was delivered on time and on budget.
• There has been increased event and club exposure through earlier advertising for 2011 FHC, distribution event flyers and the launch of a Club Facebook page and Club Youtube channel.
• The club constitution has been reviewed and action taken to ensure we are operating within the appropriate boundaries. A few minor changes will be tabled to ensure the constitution reflects the contemporary operation of the club.
• We are rebuilding our Flathead Classic data capture tool to ensure its capacity stays in step with the size and demands of the event as it grows.
• We have moved to honor our founding President Don Woodford with a Medal named in his honor which is to be awarded in recognition of contribution to the Club and voted by members. Whilst we are yet to fine tune the criteria and process I think you will all agree that this is a great way to acknowledge Don’s contribution to the club.

I would like to acknowledge the anglers who have competed and achieved great results in our Club Annual competition as well as the members who have competed in the various tournaments and series. As we are a sport fishing club I think it is important to highlight the achievements of our members on the tournament calendar:

• Kevin Ballantine was a member of the Champion Team at the Little Ships Comp
• Team Lucky Strike Ross McCubbin, Brad Job and Ben Job who finished 4th in the Barra Classic, 1st Gold Coast Flathead Classic
• Roderick Walmsley and Sean Pallent Team Sunline 1st place in the Bream Brisbane Boat Show Invitational • Daniel Foley 1st place Easter Bream Classic
• Ross McCubbin Champion Senior, Myself (Christine Hunt) Champion Female and Jake Neilson Champion Junior at the 2010 Flathead Classic
• Tracey Mammen is currently ranked 5th Bream Non Boater and 13th Bream Team Angler in Australia.
• Darren Borg currently ranked 3rd Bream Boater and 2nd Bream Team angler in Australia, 1st
• Together they fish as Team TT and have qualified for the Berkely Evinrude team series Grand Final in Sydney finishing 11th in the series, They are also on the verge of a top 2 finish in the Gamakatsu Team Series and they won the Dash for Cash, 6th at Brisbane Boat Show Invitational.

I am sure you will all agree that it has been a very busy, active and successful year for the club and I believe we have achieved our two main objectives. I would like to acknowledge the efforts and commitment of the Executive Committee: Vice President: Bruce Anderson, Treasurer: Rob See, Secretary: Elaine Gratton, Fundraising: Paul Neilson, Membership: Irene McGowan, Games Masters: Danny Sands and Christian Pulvirenti and General Committee: Simon Marshall. Your effort and support is to be commended and has arisen from a genuine commitment to the club, I know at times that this does not occur without sacrifice and challenge and on behalf of the membership I thank you for what you have given. I personally would like to thank each of you for your support of me as President.

The challenge ahead for the club will be to keep the energy alive and the momentum going. This cannot remain the work of a few and has to become the shared responsibility of many. I encourage all of you to play your part; you do not have to be a committee member to assist in supporting or even running an event or assist in building a great club culture. I challenge you to be involved in your clubs activities, comps, camping trips or whatever is on, I encourage you to introduce yourself to members you don’t know and welcome new members to the club. This club is not about individuals, it is about a community of people who share a common interest and passion for fishing and the club will only ever be as good as the effort that is put in by its membership. This is as much about participation as it is about leadership. This is your club and it is up to each and every one of us to take the club forward. I thank you for an excellent 2010/11season and I look forward to a bright future for the Gold Coast Sportfishing Club.