Your Involvement with the Club

[sharpie]

This quote from Monopoly in another thread got me thinking.

I think that you may be overestimating the involvement that most members actually have with the footy club. My family has been members for a good number of years now, and the extent of our involvement is to go to the games, have a good (occasionally bad) time, and then pretty much forget about it for the rest of the week. No aftermatches, no club dinners etc., and we're happy with that. I don't particularly want a say, and I don't think I need one to be able to say "this is my club". I has been, and will be for a long time. It's not neccesarily about owning your little piece of the board.

I think I am much the same sort of member, having never been any more involved with the club other than going to games. No training sessions, no meet-the-players bbqs, no club dinners.

So I'm wondering just what people's level of involvement is with the club.

The reason I ask is that as someone who just goes to games, I doubt my right to vote would actually affect my level of involvement with the club. As such, I am not fussed at all about having the right to vote or not.

[swansrule100]

i think its good to think that a fan could get involved if they want its important a club knows it only exists because of support

[Cher]

I think its good that the club has something for everyone. Cheap seats, not so cheap seats, several levels of membership. Free functions, budget functions and the ones that cost more than a weekend trip from Melb to Sydney.
What the club has done for me, is to help me meet all you great guys and organise our own functions.

[Captain]

Re: Your Involvement with the Club

Originally posted by sharpie
I think I am much the same sort of member, having never been any more involved with the club other than going to games. No training sessions, no meet-the-players bbqs, no club dinners.

Oh Sharpie, I didn't realise you actually went to the games.

[Dave]

I'd say that a lot more people would get more involved if we actually had a proper "clubhouse" where members and fans could socialise.
I know a few years ago this was sort of done out of Easts Leagues Club but it's not the same.
Somewhere that had memorabilia and the like displayed, and where you might go for a good meal and a game of pool, and probably run into the odd player from past and present.
Maybe one day...

[Bleed Red Blood]

I go to every game I can and the club functions if possible.

[Bart]

Originally posted by Dave
I'd say that a lot more people would get more involved if we actually had a proper "clubhouse" where members and fans could socialise.
I know a few years ago this was sort of done out of Easts Leagues Club but it's not the same.
Somewhere that had memorabilia and the like displayed, and where you might go for a good meal and a game of pool, and probably run into the odd player from past and present.
Maybe one day...

In this environment of pokies tax and clubs going to the wall, it would be very difficult to justify a clubhouse and make it pay its way. With Fox Studios next door struggling, it would be very difficult to make a clubhouse commercially viable.

Also, while good number attend the aftermatches, what are they, maybe 200-300 ? Still only 1% of the entire membership base. Even on this board we have probably less than 1% of all Swans members active, yet in this poll half of those indicate that their only involvement is going to the match, nothing more, nothing less.

I expect members to be very apathetic about this, hence my fears that some well meaning folk will get in with no value to bring to the club whatsover.

Like him or loath him, Eddie pulls a lot of weight and has brought immense $$ to Collingwood. We need heavyweights like him on our board, people who have profile and will attract media attention (something we desparately need in Sydney) and corporate dollars.

[Dave]

Originally posted by Bart
In this environment of pokies tax and clubs going to the wall, it would be very difficult to justify a clubhouse and make it pay its way.

I didn't want to mention pokies as I think they are a curse.
Rugby League clubs have an unhealthy reliance on them and I would hate the Swans having to resort to them for survival.

It's a hard one I guess but it would be nice to have some place you could just rock up to at any time, flash your badge, and be imersed in a "Swans enviroment".

[BonBon]

I have been to more games this year than last year. Obviously, I try and go to as many games as I can. This year I have been to about 10-15 games !

[swansrock4eva]

I go to every home game, try to make 1 or 2 away games, and I've been to the last 3 B&F dinners (altho won't be there this year). Depending on what else fits my schedule, things like the bbqs etc can be squeezed in. On the howle though, my invovlement comes through being an active CS member.

I'm looking forward to getting the chance to vote - it's something I think the club needs in order to be able to progress and move forward as a true "people's club" rather than something people feed money in to and get little/no return other than saving money on attending games.

As long as voting isn't compulsory then chances are there will be a lot of people who do vote who have taken at least some time to make a relatively informed decision. The more info we can get about where the club has been and where it's going, both on and off the field, the more those of us who do care can make a wise decision imo. But that would involve the club releasing a little more info than the sugar-coated details we get now, so it should be interesting to see what happens in the next year or so.

[Bart]

Originally posted by swansrock4eva
I'm looking forward to getting the chance to vote - it's something I think the club needs in order to be able to progress and move forward as a true "people's club" rather than something people feed money in to and get little/no return other than saving money on attending games.

But do we 'feed' money into the club ? I don't think so. I pay for a service and I get a reserved seat for 12 matches in return at a vastly reduced price. Good value IMO. I'm not paying a charity here. I demand and get something in return.

I think people overstate their importance in the big scheme of things if they demand more than going to the match in return for their dollars.

What does a "people's club" mean ? What differnence does that make to me ? What extra benefits am I going to get by this ? Am I going to get more benefits that cost the club money and send it broke ? I don't need anything else except for my seat.

[swansrock4eva]

I guess I see the concept of the "people's club" as one that WE are invovled in - Cher mentioned having met all of us, but most of that has come through external sources such as this website and messageboard and the old yahoogroups list etc. But when it comes to being able to attend most functions etc, $140 for one night out is way beyond the reach of many, and it takes away our ability to interact with our club - the players, the staff, the other supporters. Even cheaper events are still relatively expensive for quite a few - I know of several who said that the $55 for the trivia night was beyond their reach. Although we pay money primarily for our seats at the games, in the past there were generally little "perks" that have been lost since the corporate side of things became all-important. For example, when the players stopped attending the aftermatches, we lost that small opportunity to have contact with the people we come to see week in and week out. I can recall years ago being able to go up to my fave players and chat to them for ages at a time, grab photos galore, and buy my raffle ticket off an up-and-comer. Now we pay to be a full club member (with our special medallion that allows us into the aftermatch) to see a couple of players and maybe a coach get up and talk for 2 minutes and then have somewhere more important to be - usually corporate commitments. To be honest, as supporters, we have not been given a lot of respect on a lot of levels in recent years, and given the huge amoutn of money we are capable of bringing into the club, this is something that should be addressed imo.

Admittedly, the right to vote isn't going to bring people into the fold, but it may be a step in the right direction to correcting things the PEOPLE see as being inadequate, and if the right people get into the right places, we may see ongoing changes. But we can only get the right people in there if we take the opportunities we are given, such as the right to vote.

[JF_Bay22_SCG]

Originally posted by Cher
I think its good that the club has something for everyone. Cheap seats, not so cheap seats, several levels of membership. Free functions, budget functions and the ones that cost more than a weekend trip from Melb to Sydney.
What the club has done for me, is to help me meet all you great guys and organise our own functions.

But I think RWO has done that more than the club has. I far prefer informal get-togethers like our now infamous pizza gatherings in Carlton and Clarendon St than big fancy song and dance spectactles. I like to talk with other supporters and to meet new people with a love for the club like me. I love the adventures I get up to on away trips, and wouldn't miss them for anything.

I was very lucky and nabbed tickets to the Club Best and Fairest and Team of the Century functions last year because the club held some tickets back for Cheer Squad members.

They are never the sort of thing I would do on my own accord though. Because by the season's end I'm broke. And would rather invest in a flight to Melbourne or whereever to support my team than mingle with the hoypolloy in a dinner suit and bow-tie over cocktails.

Still each to their own. I DID enjoy the Best & Fairest last year though. Was a real hoot. And I nabbed a couple of other people's food and got very drunk on free champagne.

I'd like think I help the club out in other ways. I have paid $150 out of my own pocket to have SA and QLD-based flagsticks so that I can just bring all the Cheer Squad flags interstate in a laundrimat bag. (Lucky I got the WA Supporters Club to buy their own!) For the first time we have had a proper Cheer Squad at EVERY away match in Australia. Has been back-breaking at times, but I'd have to say it is definitely worth it.

I help make the banners for at least every Sunday home match. For Saturday night home matches banner making is held on the Friday during the day, so I can't go. But I have often spent all Saturday with as little as one other person making the things. An ardous task, but as long as people don't argue whilst making it, one that is OK in the end. Naturally I help with the banner on match day as well.

JF

[sharpie]

Re: Re: Your Involvement with the Club

Originally posted by Captain
Oh Sharpie, I didn't realise you actually went to the games.

You're a keen angler, aren't you Oh Captain My Captain!

[Destructive]

I have been to a few aftermatches in my time.