Can you believe another season done and dusted.       

Our season did start early though with the trial of the early sign on days last September.     These early sign on days proved a huge success with a very large percentage of our players taking advantage of the opportunity to sign on early.     This not only helped the club with ascertaining numbers, but also helped with the ordering of merchandise.   A number of parents also liked the idea of getting the registration fees out of the way early and not having to worry about them in February.      Due to the success of the early sign on days, we have adopted them again for next season.

After all the sign on days were over, we saw the season kick off with 207 players register.   Every season this number grows and this year was no exception with the registered players not growing a lot, but staying very steady.

We again held our Pre-Season Carnival against the Gold Coast based clubs in March, and again was a great success for our club, and a great fundraising initiative.   The pre-season carnivals help raise much needed funds early in the season and help the running of the club throughout the season.

Then came the start of the official 2012 season.     We had a few wet weekend starts, particularly for those of us who had to play on the mini fields at Murwillumbah.   The kids loved the mud, but I’m not too sure about the coaches (particularly the u7’s white coach).

Unfortunately the start of the season also started with some sad news about one of our own, Jackson Hersee, being diagnosed with a Malignant Osteo Sarcoma in his femur bone.     To help the Hersee family with mounting medical costs, we at the Raiders held a Clipper Cut Day.     Rain tried to dampen our spirits on the first scheduled day for the Clipper Cuts, with us having to postpone the day, but it was going to take a lot more than rain to stop us.   On the postponed date for the Clipper Cut Day, everyone came out in force, even the sun.     To this day when I look back at the amount of support we received from the Community and businesses with donations, to kids knocking on doors to receive donations for their clipper cuts, to the members of the club who donated their time to get the day up and running, right through to the hairdressers who donated their time on the day, it still makes me so proud to be a member of this fantastic club.       We really showed everyone that day what we at the Raiders’ club are made of, and I for one could not have been prouder.

All teams performed extremely well throughout the season, with a total of five teams making it through to the Semi Finals.   Unfortunately, we didn’t manage to get any teams into the Grand Finals this year, but I know we will come out bigger and stronger next year.

Having said that, I would like to thank all our fantastic coaches, trainers and manager who devote so much time during the season to our players.     You are all an amazing bunch of people, and the club would certainly be lost without you all.

There are some other people that I need to thank regarding the 2012 season.       One group that we wouldn’t be able to do without is our sponsors.     I would like to take this opportunity to thank all our sponsors for their support.   I have no doubt that if we didn’t have the support of our sponsors, the club wouldn’t be able to run financially.     Our sponsors’ support helps with the cost of our merchandise and general running of the club.     Special thanks to major sponsors Hutchinson’s and also to sponsors such as Give Me a Sign and the Cabarita Beach Sports Club, but also to all the sponsors you see on your child’s training shirts, jerseys and other places around the club.       I strongly urge you to support them when you can – if you need a local service, instead of reaching for Google or the Yellow Pages, grab your child’s training shirt and see if the business you are looking for is on the shirt.

I would like to thank all those volunteers who helped out at our home games during the season.    Finally and definitely not least, I would like to thank the 2012 Tweed Coast Raiders JRL Committee.     A lot of work happens behind the scenes in running a club of our size, but unfortunately a lot of that work goes unseen.      Getting the club to run smoothly takes more than one person, and every one of our Committee members should be thanked.     On a personal level, I have been very lucky again, to have had a great Committee work with me and support me this season, for which I would like to personally thank each and every one of them.

Enjoy the summer months and I hope to see you all next Season.

Tania Cahill

2012 Club President

Tweed Coast Raiders JRL Inc.