Dear St Bedes/Mentone Tigers Community,

To say that 2020 has been a difficult and challenging year so far would be an understatement. As we see lockdown conditions resume for all of greater Melbourne, I am thankful for the limited number of COVID-19 cases in our local area. It is crucial that we follow the advice of the Chief Health Officer if we wish for the situation to stay that way, and to improve across our city.

Currently we have our various parts of the club subject to different conditions as a result of the COVID situation:

SBMT Seniors:
The VAFA advised last week that the season for 2020 has been cancelled. It is clear that many local clubs including SBMT and the VAFA itself wished for a different outcome, but unfortunately that is now not possible. Regardless of the fact we can’t commence a season, there has been a huge amount of work that has gone on since the start of the year, both behind the scenes with the SBMT Board and VAFA Committee as well as with the coaches and playing groups. There have also been significant operational costs to the club without a single game being played. The players from our senior teams have been advised that in the event of subs not yet paid, there will be a player contribution of $175 payable. The feedback to the senior committee regarding this requirement has been positive and shows the amazing support shown by our players to our wonderful club.

SBMT Juniors:
The SMJFL has advised yesterday that the 2020 season for our juniors has been delayed. We will notify our community as soon as we have news of the intentions of the league. It is important to note that all current registrations will remain current, and will be ready to launch into action as soon as we get the go ahead! We at SBMT believe that some footy is better than no footy. It is important for the mental health of our community, it is best for our youngest players’ connection to sport and physical health, and it is crucial for maintaining our community’s connection to each other and the club. So we will continue to advocate on behalf of all our players to try and get some sort of season before the end of the year!

Auskick:
At this stage with the restrictions on gathering, Auskick will not be able to go ahead during the current lock down period.

Club Social Functions:
With the current restrictions on social gathering numbers, all advertised functions in the new SBMT clubrooms will not go ahead.

Finance:
We have been fortunate to have our new SBMT Finance Director join the Board since earlier this season. Jonathan Kane has done much work in ascertaining the financial position of the club and what toll COVID is taking. Below is Jon’s report on our current situation:

I’m sure everyone is wondering how COVID-19 has affected St Bedes/Mentone Tigers. There’s no sugar coating it, it has had a fairly devastating effect on the financial position of the club. This is mainly due to the timing of restrictions and lockdowns. On the eve of the VAFA season we were forced into restrictions, this was in spite of the football club having spent many thousands of dollars on the season ahead. A similar situation has occurred on the SMJFL side with the second lockdown occurring on the eve of the adjusted season beginning. To be ready for both the SMJFL and VAFA seasons the club has spent just over $100,000 on equipment, merchandise, affiliation fees, occupancy costs and other operating costs. I would like to stress that the building contributions have been managed from the building levy fund and council and government grants, with no general revenue diverted to pay for the building and renovation. 

While the situation is quite worrying, there is definitely some light at the end of the tunnel. We have spent many hours budgeting the rest of the season and assessing different outcomes. We are confident that the club will be able to survive through this tough period. However, this is not a given, so we will be announcing some policies in relation to membership refunds in the near future once we have guidance from the SMJFL on what they are going to do with their season. Without being dramatic, the survival of the football club will come down to the assistance of the members. We are working on some fundraising plans for the club, and now have 6 weeks to put the finishing touches on these! There have been some amazing people working tirelessly behind the scenes to get the teams on the park, and we hope that this will still happen. To all those amazing people, we can’t name you all, we’d publicly like to thank you for putting so much effort in during these unprecedented times. Its amazing to see our community at work!     

The Board would like to thank Jon for providing some transparency about the current situation for the club. Requests for any further info can be made via email to  . It’s clear that the support of our SBMT community with the current fundraising initiatives, with buying merchandise and with sponsorship will keep our beloved SBMT club afloat. Click on any of the options below to support our wonderful Tigers!

 

1. To purchase ground signage at the Brindisi St oval at a discounted price of $770 (including GST) for the remainder of the 2020 season as well as the whole 2021 season, email  .

2. Support our SBMT wine fundraiser! $60 from every dozen sold goes to our club. The feedback so far is that the wine is terrific, and perfect for the upcoming cold nights in lockdown. The labels display the SBMT emblem and there are 3 whites and 3 reds to choose from. Enjoy a local wine whilst staying COVID-safe at home and support the club at the same time!

3. For all your SBMT merchandise and uniform needs, follow the link to our online store:

Choose from a selection of scarves, beanies, hoodies, polos, puffer jackets and vests with a combination of old and new logos!

4. Follow these links to contribute to one of our building projects with tax deductibility status:

5. Follow this link to take out an SBMT club membership and back the mighty Tigers:

6. Get your tix for the Toyota Good For Footy raffle via the link below to give SBMT 100% of all funds from tickets bought and go in the draw to win 1 of 10 amazing prizes, including a brand new car!

Lastly, during these difficult times, reach out to our St Bedes/Mentone Tigers community if you’re finding the challenges too much. It sounds cliched now after being said in the media so much, but we are actually in this all together. Every one of our Tiger community is precious. Please take care of yourself and your loved ones. Stay home and stay COVID safe.

Hopefully it won’t be too long before we can all be back together celebrating our brilliant SBMT.

 

Go Tigers!

Lou Prichard Nicholson 
Club President 
St Bedes/Mentone Tigers AFC