Welcome to the new President!
Pittwater RSL Football Club recently conducted a Hand Over Take Over.
Annette Burgoyne, along with the backing of the committee, voted and welcomed Ben Collock into his new role as Club President.
Annette has poured her time and heart into this club and although she will still be a key member of the committee she welcomes this opportunity to be able to spend more, valuable time with her grandkids. Great work, Annette! Three Cheers!
We caught up with Ben recently to see what his thoughts were going into 2021. See below!
What’s your history with the club?
I’ve played for Pittwater for 28 years and been a member of the committee for 5 years. I’ve also been coaching senior football for 14 years, taking a team from AL4 to AL1s then helped our Premier League reserves side to second place and winning the Grand Final. For the last 3 years I’ve been our Coaching Director and CCC Coordinator and have been trying to increase the opportunities for coach education in our club.
What will your experience bring to the Club in the position of President?
No one can replace the hard work that Annette Burgoyne has given the club and I don’t hope to come close for what she could do for the club. I hope to use my coaching experience and set up new opportunities for coaches in the club. For example, hopefully bringing in extra training nights for kids to get exposure to some of the clubs best coaches.
What will your early focus be on going into 2021?
Last year was a very difficult year for us all with Covid and we expect 2021 to have similar challenges. Despite this we want to do our best to ensure we stay on the park while being as safe as possible. On top of that we will hopefully try and set up a few initiatives to improve our coaches access to education and give our kids the best chance to grow and have fun in football.
How do you perceive the overall potential of the club as well as challenges you expect to face?
We are the best club in the Northern Beaches and beyond and always have been. Capitalising on the upcoming Women’s World Cup and using this opportunity to grow participation in the club will be a focus for us. We have a lot of plans and extra help from the Pittwater community is vital to achieving them.
Do you have a long term goal/vision for the club?
We have a lot of dreams within the committee for the next few years. Getting a synthetic pitch at Kitchener Park, starting the Pittwater academy, create more opportunities for coaches and get more coaches through MWFA courses. If we can achieve all these we’ll set ourselves up to maintain our status as the premier club of the Northern Beaches, but we will need help from our community to achieve them.