Beauy opened the 2021 season in style courtesy of major sponsor Porsche Centre Brighton’s Pike Peters and Libby Miller.
Over 60 people attended the event hosted at the Porsche showrooms on Nepean Highway Brighton with a feast of beautiful cars on display including a Carrera Cup GT4 about to be tuned for competition and brand new Taycan (pronounced Tie Carn) Electric Vehicle. Interestingly EVs are nothing new to Porsche with the marque’s founder Ferdy Porsche fascinated by electricity and his first car, the P1 in 1898 being an EV and winning a 24mile road race by 18mins with the lowest energy consumption of any competitor. Porsche Brighton has been a great partner to Beauy over the past 3 years with their cars on display at big games and a healthy number of sales made as a consequence.
The event was attended by club sponsors and our senior coaching team enabling all to mingle and to hear what’s in store for the season ahead. We were very pleased to welcome the Hon Member for Goldstein Tim Wilson and our State Member for Sandringham Brad Rowswell who have both supported the club’s ambition to improve facilities for all members. Joe hasn’t quite persuaded Brad to change the name of his constituency to Beaumaris but he’s working on it!
Our president Joe Mottola welcomed all sponsors with heartfelt thanks for their support in what has been a tough time for the club – no income from registrations or canteen in 2021 but continued expenditure. Without sponsor support, we wouldn’t have survived so on behalf of all our members we have really appreciated the support all sponsors provide to our football community. Local businesses are at the heart of our community and missing out last year really brought home the value of Beauy bringing mums, dads, players, and spectators together with local businesses.
Our VP Dave Richards thanked the many volunteers who made the event happen including organizer and BSC Sponsorships Director Marc Gibson, our photographer, and provider of light refreshments Gert Gratz, Yvonne Richards for her splendid catering, and Deb Ashburn and Bonnie Billing who served all with a smile. Dave highlighted the season ahead and particularly the efforts of Senior Women's coach Danielle Tracey and Senior Men's coaches David Gibson and Alistair Bray for their efforts in getting their squads ready in challenging conditions.
The Beauy world is about to change forever ahead of the FIFA Women's World Cup being hosted in Australia in 2023. Bayside Council has confirmed that the build of our new gender-friendly pavilion commences on Monday 15 March to be completed by end of 2021. This is wonderful news for our 240+ women and girls who have been so patient in enduring facilities that were frankly disgraceful. Why it took 12 years of lobbying to make it happen is for another day but we approach this season with optimism that all 600+ Beauy players, their parents, and families will get to enjoy the new pavilion which includes social meeting spaces, decent food, and beverage facilities and 4 large changing rooms suitable for all. Your club will have to make a 6figure contribution to the fit-out of the new pavilion which is why the pavilion levy continues. Dave thanked the many who wrote to Council with support for this project including Tim and Brad. Our new pavilion – the Porsche Pavilion Pike? - will be ready for our 2022 season.
Dave thanked our partners at the MCC for their continued support to Beauy in making available their superb FIFA Grade 1 facilities at Beaumaris College for our 2021 season which will now have Senior Men's games played early evening on Saturday. We’re working with the powers that be to make the MCC facilities home to one of the competing nations in the Women's World Cup so Beauy girls can see just what it takes to become a Matilda. MCC is also keen to establish a footprint in soccer which is one of the few sports their members cannot compete in and so we will continue to work with MCC to that end.
Our youngest registered member in 2021 is 5 years old and our oldest is 64. Our senior coaches put great effort into ensuring our men and women never forget the junior club they represent even as their teams are flying high in State Leagues 1 and 2 playing the highest standard of community football in Victoria. Our senior teams offer excellent pathways for our girls and boys to achieve their dreams and remain connected to all we do.
Other successes less obvious but no less worthy include our Beauy Bubbles, Mums who recognise that “if you can’t beat ‘em you gotta join ‘em.” With 22 players in the squad this social group goes from strength to strength and continue to earn their name by enjoying their refreshment of choice at full time! Beauy now has 3 senior women’s teams to supplement the 6 dedicated girl’s teams and Dave reiterated that we are on track to achieve our goal of gender representation equality by 2023 – by having an equal number of female and males participating in the game. So if you know mums, sisters and daughters who want to try the beautiful game bring them down to put the blue and yellow shirts on, to enjoy the spirit of being together and playing for each other. That is the essence of community sport, and 2020 proved that it has been taken for granted for too long. Beauy is committed to providing the best facilities, coaching and participation opportunity in team sport, to support children and families in a fun and nurturing environment that is a major part in making us who we are.
Dave concluded by thanking all those who make this a reality reiterating Beauy’s aspiration to excellence in the way we play, the way we conduct ourselves on and off the field, and in the facilities and friendship we can offer to families from Middle Park to Mornington to play. Being part of a community has never been more meaningful than it is today and Beauy has much to do in 2021 and will continue to work with community leaders and sponsors to achieve success. We wish all our teams well in 2021.
Go Beauy!