Heathmont Junior Football Club president Jo Hart-Parker spoke to EFL Media ahead of the 2018 season, all thanks to Yarra Valley Water & Choose Tap.
Overall, were you satisfied with what the club achieved, both on and off the field, in 2017?
Jo Hart-Parker: 2017 ended up being one of the most successful years in the club’s history and thanks must go to all the players, coaches, and volunteers who all played a major part of that success.
The club fielded 14 teams, including introducing two girls’ sides in U10s and U16s, with the older team playing finals. All our teams were very competitive on the ground, with eight of these teams playing finals and three of them making it to Grand Finals unfortunately only one win but two very competitive losses.
We were also very proud of our 5 players from various age groups, who featured in the EFL Presentation Night and congratulate them for their B&F winners and Runner-Ups awards. This was a result of our continually examining our player development policy and coaching philosophy, and which has the great support of all our coaching staff.
Auskick also played a big part in the club last season and we are aiming to support the two groups strongly in the coming season.
Off field we introduced our long awaited new electronic scoreboard at Heatherdale which is pulling us up into the digital age. It is also a big advantage being able to play at two grounds, Heatherdale Reserve and HE Parker which has helped with the introduction of new teams.
We also must congratulate Tom North from our junior ranks to being drafted to Fremantle, adding to Nathan Mullenger-McHugh to the Western Bulldogs last season, and Jas Grierson to Melbourne in the inaugural AFLW season also last year. The club wishes them every success for their future AFL careers.
Approximately how many teams do you think you will field in 2018?
JHP: The Heathmont Jets Junior club will be fielding at least 13 sides in 2018 with the introduction of an U12s girls team.
What has the feeling been like around the club over the pre-season?
JHP: It has been a challenging pre-season but thanks must again go to the football department, and coaching staff, for all their hard work to ensure we do have the teams on the park. That is now behind us and we all excited to see what the season will bring. The focus is on now developing our players and ensuring they enjoy their football, while playing for the Heathmont Jets.
We introduced a dedicated pre-season training program this year for our competitive teams. The program was over five weeks concentrating on a different skill set each week. It was a very successful program and it was great to see the participation numbers from across those age groups join in and improve their skills prior to the start of the season. It will definitely be on the calendar for next year.
The Club is also excited about another new incentive that we are introducing this year, where we have formed a partnership with the an interstate Junior Club. This will see the two clubs compete, in what we hope will be become, an annual Inter-State Challenge Cup match. The partnership between the two clubs will provide the opportunity for players from each club to travel inter-state each second year to play against one another. We are introducing this to our Youth Boys teams in 13/14 this year and looking at the possibility of a Youth Girls’ team being given the opportunity to participate in future years.
It’s also great to see the growth of girls’ football and the club is very happy, and excited, to be part of the growth with the view of increasing team numbers again next season.
If you had to pick one, which team do you think is the club’s best chance of winning a premiership this season?
JHP: That’s a hard question – and not wanting to put pressure on any team – it’s difficult to pick just one, our U14’s came so close last year as did our U12’s, and the U15’s are looking great on the track. With all the work the coaches have done with their teams in the pre-season we will watch with interest on their efforts in 2018.
Is there a particular age group of players that you need as soon as possible to fill a team ahead of Round 1?
MY: We still have some gaps to fill in Under 10’s, and just need to top up our U9’s, U13’s and U17 boys age groups.
We also need a few more for our under-10 and U12 girls age groups.
If any players are interested in playing for your club this season, what do they have to do?
Call our register Glenn Arbuckle on 0418 349 869
Jo Hart-Parker 0405 277 053
They can also visit our website www.jetsjuniors.com which also has more detailed information.
