President's Monday Musings

From the pen of Club President, John Spillane...

The Roar!

As you will all be aware, Saturday was Club Day (or Old Timers Day, or Past Players & Supporters Day – or whatever you want to call it) at Marist St Pats – and what a day it was!

The day started for some at 7.00am down at Evans Bay and did not finish until well after midnight for many - so it really was a big old day - but what happened on the day is only half the story.

What occurred on Saturday – from the start of Juniors games and through to the end of the Premier game down at Evans Bay Park and then up at the Clubrooms afterwards - was the result of the coordinated efforts of so many people.

Working off an extremely detailed run sheet that was about 350 lines long, the day was choreographed to perfection by the organizing team.

With a Coffee Cart, Mr. Whippy truck, a free BBQ and the Old Timers’ luncheon (in the newly refurbished Green Room), to races for the kids at half time in the big game, Evans Bay Park really was the place to be for all followers of the Red Machine.

The turnout to the Old Timers luncheon was a little disappointing but I can totally understand that as it was diabolical getting a park in the vicinity (victims of our own success here I fear) and the Council had done us no favors, digging up Kilbirnie and surrounding suburbs, and reducing traffic to a crawl for most of the day. Those who did attend enjoyed the event and were on hand to join many other spectators to “enjoy” the local derby, with Marist St Pats battling the Axemen.

The results went our way and - in typical MSP fashion - the coaches, while happy to get the win, especially given the young and inexperienced teams we fielded, were focused on the work they have to do to keep on collecting “W’s” throughout the remainder of the season.

For the past month I have been saying that the Red Machine is running a bit smoother – well last weekend, for the first time in a long time, I heard it start to roar.

While definitely not running at full revs nor even on all cylinders just yet, you could feel the energy and power that the Red Machine was renowned for in the past. It was such a good feeling and gives me a lot of confidence about the club’s future prospects.

For those who were at Evans Bay or watched the games livestreamed, I think we will all agree that our young teams are not quite “roaring” on the pitch – but we need to be fair in our assessment of the games. The fact is we have a heap of injuries across all the grades. The bulk of our players are young and still learning their trade, but they are playing so bravely and showing great character, which all bodes well for the future.

What I loved about this weekend was:

The Colts players who were called up to play and reserve for the Premier and Premier 2 Teams did so willingly and did a wonderful job when called into the action.
The Colts had a great win – despite some of their marquee players being seconded to help other teams.
Players from the Reserve Internationals (who had a bye) made themselves available to help with the Premier 2 and Presidents.
The Presidents did this Saturday what the rest of Marist St Pats could not get done last week, in that they beat Hutt Old Boys Marist. Thanks Henry – no one wanted a clean sweep!
Our Chair, Lourdaiz Ah Chong, and several of our coaches strapped on their boots and played for the Premier 2 team to allow their players to step up and to give more depth to our bench.
The Social Committee did a spectacular job setting up the Clubrooms – fit for a final.
The Juniors’ parents got involved and had the young ones (the future of MSP) up in the Clubrooms in vast numbers – contributing to the energetic vibe on the night. It was great to see so many families there enjoying the Clubrooms and contributing to the roar.
There was an army of supporters, from every part of the Club, working together to deliver a brilliant Club Day and host an after match that was epic – easily the best of the 2024 season and hopefully this has shown everyone how good the Clubrooms can be when everyone makes the effort to get involved.

To me, this is the stuff that great Clubs are made of and is where the Marist St Pats mantra of “One Club” is seen in its living form.

That makes me confident that the rugby side will be roaring soon and that once it starts to roar it will continue to do so season after season.

Previous editions of the President's Monday Musings

This weekend's action - 18 May 2024

Grade	Opposition	Location
Premier Men	Upper Hutt Rams	Maidstone Park at 2.45pm
Premier 2 Men	Upper Hutt Rams	Maidstone Park 2 at 1pm
Colts	Upper Hutt Rams	Maidstone Park at 1pm
Reserve 'Internationals'	Upper Hutt Rams	Maoribank Park at 2.45pm
Under 85kg Red	Petone	Petone Rec 2 at 2.45pm
Presidents 'MH Law Classics'	Upper Hutt Rams	Kilbirnie Park 3 at 2.45pm
Netball 1	Wgtn East 9	Akau Tangi Sports Centre at 2.30pm
Netball 2	Kia Ora 5	Akau Tangi Sports Centre at 12.20pm

Marist St Pats

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