Letter from the President
I want to take this opportunity to confirm our support of the RDFL’s strong stance on the strict compliance with the “Codes of Conduct” we have all signed as either players, coaches or parents. I’m sure I don’t have to cite all the sections of these codes for you to remember what they are all about. I think I summed it up in the motto, “It’s all about the kids”. Basically, if what you are doing or saying is not positive and not helping our kids develop and enjoy their footy then you’re not doing the right thing.
At this week’s RDFL Presidents Meeting all club presidents were unanimous in their wish to stamp out the ugly side of football.
We want The Blues to lead the way in the way we conduct ourselves. This is because how we conduct ourselves is the biggest lesson we can give to our kids. They will follow our lead. If a coach abuses an umpire, then a parent will abuse an umpire and the player will see this as normal behaviour. If a coach values winning above all else, how will his players learn true sportsmanship and how to be gracious in victory and defeat? If a parent over-coaches their child how can the child enjoy the game? If a parent is aggressive and abusive....well you get the point!
To help stamp out this unsavoury conduct the RDFL has implored umpires to immediately penalise the team of any coach, official, parent or player who breaches the codes of conduct. The penalties may be in the form of free kicks, 50m penalties or subsequent reports to the league (who can impose further sanctions including fines).
As a club, we will also be pro-active in ensuring that our players, parents, coaches and officials comply with the codes of conduct designed to create the best environment for our kids to develop and enjoy their football. To this end, the committee will impose our own sanctions on a case by case basis to any member of the club who acts improperly and breaches the codes of conduct. The committee hopes that we never have to do this but we are resolute in our desire to make our club a community that is a positive environment for our children.
Good luck to all our teams this week. Enjoy your footy and be gracious in defeat and victory.
Paul Gates, Kilmore Juniors President
ASC Winter Footy Camps
For many years Australian Sports Camps ran the Kevin Sheedy Football Camp in Parkville and each year had a number of juniors attend from the RDJFL - traditionally we also working in with the league by donating some free places to attend the camps to the league to use as prizes, and also offered all juniors from the league an automatic discount and one not based on any set number of players attending in a group.
Kevin has moved up to Sydney and now works with us still on our Sydney camps, we do however still have football camps in Melbourne and I have attached a flyer on the July program which includes 4 football three day camps, providing coaching from 9 to 3 daily.
We still also have a camp that offers a residential option to avoid parents needing to travel to and from the camps each day, that is the Kensington camp July 10 11 12.
I wanted to again offer the league some discounts and scholarships and in return would just hope that you can send information on the programs to your juniors.
Should any from your club wish to attend, then they get get a 15 % discount on the tuition fees simply by typing in the discount code of
RDJFL15W13 on the web site when booking.
The web site is still www.australiansportscamps.com.au
Tony Miles
AUSTRALIAN SPORTS CAMPS
Ph: (03) 9941 3195 or 1300 914 368
RDFL Clarification of Player Numbers
A detailed clarification of how to deal with player shortages (or requests for loan players) on match day has been added to the Club Documents section. The summary is as follows;
If you are short players and request some loan players 15 minutes prior to the match, your opposition should oblige. If they do not oblige then both teams must play with even (reduced) numbers. You cannot tell the opposition that you are playing short when the game starts and that they must also. The aim of this by-law is to get as many players playing on the field – NEVER FORGET THIS!
You can not get 5 minutes into the game and request an evening up of numbers – BE PROACTIVE AND APPROACH THE OPPOSITION BEFORE THE MATCH.
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