On the eve of what was to be Round 1, I wanted to touch base with all of you. The last month has felt like a decade; it has been crazy, ever-changing, confusing and dare I say it scary. 

I hope you are all keeping well, staying mentally healthy, practising good hygiene and socially isolating. 

As a football club not much has happened over the past few weeks and therefore there is not a whole lot to report. At this stage, the start date for our season of the 31st of May 2020 still remains. While I personally suspect this may be extended, I still remain very hopeful that we will play some football this year. 

Once we do know the date of our return, the committee will spring into action. At that time we will be able to advise you of updates to fixtures, updates to social events, and other financial issues surrounding fees etc.  

However, ultimately during this time, we need to remain strong and united. Not only are we are a community, but we are also a large family. It pains us to hear reports from our members of loss of jobs, businesses closing, isolation from parents, and the stress on all of our members especially our health care workers, teachers and year 12 students.    

We are buoyed; however, by the stories, we are hearing of the acts of kindness and generosity within our community. As a football club, we are bigger than the game and even in hibernation, we are all still here for our players, coaches, trainers, parents, old farts, life members and members. 

And we are also here to help out and support our sponsors, many of them are still open for business, and all of them will be doing it tough. If you need help talking to your bank, then contact Mark and Linda Macnab of Macnab Finance who can do this for you. Why not call through the Flaggy drive-thru for their delicious food specials this weekend. Gus at Cellarbrations has some great specials, and Vince and his staff are doing a stellar job in trying times. Charlesworth Nuts are delivering baskets, which makes it easier to deliver your Easter presents. Brocky down at Sratco is still open for business so head in there for all the equipment you need for those jobs around the house. And this is just a small snapshot – we have included a link of our sponsor’s Facebook pages below for you. 

During the next few months, I implore you all to: 

• Stay home and follow the self-isolation rules that are in place
• Make use of the government support on offer. 
• Use our sponsors whenever you can for your essential items
• Stay active and healthy 
• Be kind

But let’s also stay connected: (like many of you already are)

• Join our Facebook groups and engage with them regularly. 
• Check-in on your teammates, families and friends using apps like Zoom, House Party, Messenger, WhatsApp, Snapchat etc. 
• Pick up your phone and give people a call. 
• Talk to your neighbours over the fence

Lastly, get those jobs done around the house for your wives now, so when the footy is back, we can do nothing else. And if you are bored and need some sport, I can highly recommend the documentary The Test on Stan including some appearances from Flaggy’s own Alex Carey.  

Stay safe, stay home, stay positive and support our sponsors when you can.  

And remember every day we are one day closer to this being over and getting back to footy. 

Now more than ever #Falconstrong

Cheers 
Neil Williams
Club President