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TriColourDisciple wrote:We left Frankston feeling very deflated.
Earlier today, I'd ran in the Run4kids funrun which was a huge scale event with 30,000 runners, (and their family & friends watching on) the entire day ran like clockwork-everyone happy.
At Frankston, it was somewhat different. 90% of our day was spent waiting in line in the blazing sun, just so as my 11 year old could get a felt tipped squiggle from her hero, on the white panel of her Saints jumper.
With only five people in front of her, she was feeling as if the long wait was all worthwhile
Until, the cocky security staff, who seemed to get some perverse pleasure out of telling the remainder of the line that they've missed out.
She tried to hide it from us but the tears were rolling down her cheeks.
After consoling her, we took a seat on the grass to watch the jumper presentation. maybe that might go some way into cheering her up. Only to have everybody stand up in front of us preventing her from seeing anything. I reassured her that the host will surely tell every body to sit down as the day IS for little people. But no...
Thank goodness the sand sculptures went some way into making the trip to Frankston enjoyable
Not good to hear....
Similar to three years ago where we waited (mum waited while we kicked a footy) in line for 2.5 hours for the 'leadership' group tent....
Milan Faletic wrote:It would be good if maybe the players made themselves accessible at The Victory Room when we have a day game so the kids can get autographs then.
They are available for autographs in the Victory Room. Before each home game there is a notice up on the glass advising which players will be in attendance after the game.
True..but the players come in much later after the game now than they did years ago.
If it is a night game this can be very VERY late. However last year on occassion some injured players, rookies etc who were not playing came in earlier which was most welcome initiative. Not just for the kids, but for adults too who enjoy the player interviews.
Seems to have got much later even just in the last year. I guess with the ever increasing professionalism, it takes so long by the time they do all they are required to do down in the rooms. We never wait til they come now after a night game, its just too late. We always go to the Victory room for a drink before heading home, but rarely last to see players who've played that day. Agree its great to have the injured and rookie players come earlier to at least fill in the time, and its often very interesting to hear what they have to say as we often don't know a lot about them. (That is if people keep quiet enough so you can hear what they are saying) Loved hearing from Goose last year.
One of my favourite memories of the social club was after one particularly good win maybe two years ago, where Roo was the secheduled player. Unusually we had come seperately, and mum and dad decided not to wait. My son and I waited and waited and it was worth it. Roo was did a great interview and then led the group in the club song....awesome.
It will probably get later and later this year. I guess we have to accept that as part of being the great team we now are. One of the side effects of our continued success.
"At the end of the day, a coach and a fitness adviser doesn't make a good football team, they're not the only ones who got us to two Grand Finals." Lenny Hayes. 27/9/2011.
plugger66 wrote:The first thing they should do is stop adults getting autograph's. It is a kids day, adults if they need these silly autographs can get them at training. At least that will help the lines. Players cannot roam free. They will never be able to move once they start signing autographs so that helps no body.
What age is regarded as 'kids'? under 25? In all seriousness, havnt gone to a 'family day' for signatures for at least 10 years....Go for the possible sales of jumpers, the presentation and the few words from the captain/coach.
1 and a half hour drive up and then back - so we decided to take a look at the new facilities as well.....Took a while to find them!
And please dont bring logic or sense into my 'roam free' proposal!
But in all seriousness - what pisses me off is when the friendship is pushed a bit far by supporters. Dempster somehow got lost from the herd after the presentation near where me and the old man were downing some food. Suddenly surrounded by supporters for signatures, photos alike...clearly had to go, and was wearing a friggin moon boot! Surely the bloke cant just for hours just signing s*** - just let him go.
saw that and had a chuckle....andit wasnt just kids running up to him..
plugger66 wrote:The first thing they should do is stop adults getting autograph's. It is a kids day, adults if they need these silly autographs can get them at training.
TriColourDisciple wrote:We left Frankston feeling very deflated.
Earlier today, I'd ran in the Run4kids funrun which was a huge scale event with 30,000 runners, (and their family & friends watching on) the entire day ran like clockwork-everyone happy.
At Frankston, it was somewhat different. 90% of our day was spent waiting in line in the blazing sun, just so as my 11 year old could get a felt tipped squiggle from her hero, on the white panel of her Saints jumper.
With only five people in front of her, she was feeling as if the long wait was all worthwhile
Until, the cocky security staff, who seemed to get some perverse pleasure out of telling the remainder of the line that they've missed out.
She tried to hide it from us but the tears were rolling down her cheeks.
After consoling her, we took a seat on the grass to watch the jumper presentation. maybe that might go some way into cheering her up. Only to have everybody stand up in front of us preventing her from seeing anything. I reassured her that the host will surely tell every body to sit down as the day IS for little people. But no...
Thank goodness the sand sculptures went some way into making the trip to Frankston enjoyable
Sorry to read that.
Its a tough gig for the club but just so important that they get this as right as possible (recognising not everyone will be pleased)
Hopefully they will listen and we go some way to getting better at this next year as I think its been average for a while.
Common theme here is....the day appears to be for kids.....and so many dont get near it.........these "little people" are the NEXT generation of our club......we shouldnt forget that.
Thanks Saintbrat - I will pass my suggestions to the club.
plugger66 wrote:The first thing they should do is stop adults getting autograph's. It is a kids day, adults if they need these silly autographs can get them at training. At least that will help the lines. Players cannot roam free. They will never be able to move once they start signing autographs so that helps no body.
What age is regarded as 'kids'? under 25? In all seriousness, havnt gone to a 'family day' for signatures for at least 10 years....Go for the possible sales of jumpers, the presentation and the few words from the captain/coach.
1 and a half hour drive up and then back - so we decided to take a look at the new facilities as well.....Took a while to find them!
And please dont bring logic or sense into my 'roam free' proposal!
But in all seriousness - what pisses me off is when the friendship is pushed a bit far by supporters. Dempster somehow got lost from the herd after the presentation near where me and the old man were downing some food. Suddenly surrounded by supporters for signatures, photos alike...clearly had to go, and was wearing a friggin moon boot! Surely the bloke cant just for hours just signing s*** - just let him go.
saw that and had a chuckle....andit wasnt just kids running up to him..
he was polite...
Haha yep, even did the whole phone trick as he tried to get away the first time....
St Fidelius wrote:You are the only person that has suggested it should have been held at Moorabbin this year...
Yeah right rent public toilets (more costs and for what???)
MOVE ON FFS!!
Definitely NOT the only one.
I am sure the bulk of our supporter base would have preferred it to be held at our spiritual home.
The rest of Australia can wander mask-free, socialise, eat out, no curfews, no zoning, no police rings of steel, no illogical inconsistent rules.
They can even WATCH LIVE FOOTY!
Re Dempster - He seemed to be in a hurry to get somewhere...which is why I think he came out that way rather than even go back into the building. I happened to be standing right there and couldn't believe what I was seeing. I'm surprised his poor foot didn't get trodden on. I'm sure he was actually on the phone as he was definatley talking to someone...then again he could have been pretending. He looked a bit unsure about how to handle it. Didn't want to offend, but clearly need to get going and was struggling anyway with his moonboot. Some people have no idea. I hope they are happy with their autograph. Saw Jimmy Gwilt trying to leave and getting stopped in his tracks. He apologized to people in the end and said he had to go.
"At the end of the day, a coach and a fitness adviser doesn't make a good football team, they're not the only ones who got us to two Grand Finals." Lenny Hayes. 27/9/2011.
saint66au wrote:Agree on the kids and autographs idea
Get the desperate 30/40/50 y/old fanbois out of the queues. Would make me angry for some of them to get an autograph when a lil kid misses out.
Disagree. These people buy family memberships and have every right to get an autograph. As I said earlier, maybe adults are getting autographs to keep their young kids from getting squashed in the crowd and giving them a chance to play instead of standing in a queue.
We were lucky it was a great day weather wise. Last weekend would have been a different story.
St Fidelius wrote:You are the only person that has suggested it should have been held at Moorabbin this year...
Yeah right rent public toilets (more costs and for what???)
MOVE ON FFS!!
Definitely NOT the only one.
I am sure the bulk of our supporter base would have preferred it to be held at our spiritual home.
Yeah.... good idea.
We could have all walked down Fitzroy Street and got an ice cream at the beach afterwards.
Perhaps some players could have come too, still dressed in their shirts and knickerbockers, and we would have given three hearty hurrahs for the Mighty Seagulls.
Ive sent the below email to the club (thanks Bratty for names....they'll probably think its Peter Hoare...) - if you have any suggestions send them in.
Yes, we are a bigger club now but rather than just say "ah well bad luck" I think days like today should move with the times so we capitalise on them....wonder what the Pies do?....
***********************
Greetings all,
After attending the Saints family day today (we've been to a number of these now) I felt compelled to contact you and voice some thoughts on the day.
I don't do this to whinge/complain as I can appreciate the logistics that go into making a day like this successful (the huge effort from club staff/volunteers is enormously appreciated). I understand our club is now more popular than ever, but I hope a few suggested changes may be considered for next year to take this day to a new level to match our relatively new found popularity and to capitalise on it.
For mine to improve the day two key things are needed:
1. The event must be geared primarily at kids - not the odd 40 yr old autograph hunter (who would probably find it easier to grab an autograph at training in all honesty...)
2. Players can't be locked away in tents that only the "first 1.5hrs line up" gets near.....
Its about accessibility to players for kids me, understanding that the days of everyone getting their one on one autograph are realistically over. In fact, I think less focus on meeting autograph needs in general and just more focus on being able to see players and let kids have some interaction would foster far stronger club connection than current practices of having players (and star ones at that) locked away in tents.
I realise you can't, as we did in days gone by, simply let players roam the field..(such a shame.....I remember my young family members simply being stoked that standing not 5 feet away was the great Robert Harvey...), so to meet the two objectives above perhaps an ordered approach is worthwhile considering?
For example, why not split kids into age groups (as an idea only):
0-2
2-4
4-6
6-9
8-16
In these groups we could assign players to do some basic skills (handball/kicking etc) - even just talking bout life as an AFL player for older kids e.g , toughest opponents, tactics talk (not team stuff just general things that all clubs would do etc maybe take a few questions??)...I'm sure the list here could be expanded.....(imagine the mentoring/positive messages players can impart here on young kids here....this is actually valuable......)
Perhaps half these groups could utilise half the players while the other half were being made available for autograph hunters (again by age to lines so kids get a go first?) - at the least you wont have everyone at the tents for a signing all at once with massive lines and the results being unhappy fans in their droves.
I actually think a structured approach here would also lessen the impact on lines at the amusements section improving them too (where I think most simply go to as they have given up getting near a player....the reason they came in the first place.....). If an approach is structured and kids actually get to see/interact with some players in group settings I think the need for amusements is lessened, they should be only an add on and not the main attraction (waiting times for some of these amusement lines today were 1 hour.....in a 3 hour program you can see not much can be fitted in...)
Again, I put these suggestions forward not as a criticism/whinge (its easy to do that without being constructive) but as a genuine attempt at improving the day for our great club and in the hope that most of our growing number of fans walk away from this event knowing their ongoing support for the club is truly appreciated and that on days like the Family Day, they actually get a chance to connect.
saint66au wrote:Agree on the kids and autographs idea
Get the desperate 30/40/50 y/old fanbois out of the queues. Would make me angry for some of them to get an autograph when a lil kid misses out.
Disagree. These people buy family memberships and have every right to get an autograph. As I said earlier, maybe adults are getting autographs to keep their young kids from getting squashed in the crowd and giving them a chance to play instead of standing in a queue.
We were lucky it was a great day weather wise. Last weekend would have been a different story.
Well the kids can stand with them. Why would a grown man want an autograpgh of an 18 year player. Something tells me a lot of these adults go straight to E Bay and sell photos with autographs on them. No wonder players will eventually stop signing things or at least put the persons name on the photo so they cant sell it.
The food vans and kids rides queues were just as bad. My guess is that the event setup would have been just okay if only about 25% of actual numbers turned up.
I have no idea if the club was taken by surprise at the numbers, or if this is standard fare. But the OP is right, drastic revamp and improvement is required. I will be contacting the club with the same feedback just in case they are under the impression that the day was a big hit just because a lot of people were there.[/quote]
These are my thoughts of the Family Day.
Another Saints family day has gone by - another totally ridiculous family day and huge disappointment.
Some years ago, players and coaches would wander around and mingle with people. These days, they are ensconced in these silly little tents, with long queues and waiting times. Why can’t we have some signing days during the season, maybe at Moorabbin, or at Seaford in the future for people who want to get some autographs. But on Family Day, let’s see the players. I want to see Brendan Goddard, Lenny Hayes, Nick Riewoldt, Sam Fisher, Ross Lyon, Stephen Silvagni, etc. etc. wander around and mingle with people and talk to the supporters.
Also it must be sheer torture for the players to sit there for hours and sign hundreds of autographs.
Then there is the food! There is one or two food stands with - yep - long queues and long waiting times.
The weather forecast was fantastic. It doesn’t take an Einstein to figure out that there will be many, many people attending. So why not get more food stands. For God’s sale, St. Kilda, show some initiative!
With all due respect GSG, you can't just ring up the day before & order another half a dozen food vans.
There is an awful lot of planning that goes into these types of events & it is very hard to get it right on no's. & the weather, so no matter what you do, people will still complain.
Granted, I'm not in favour of the players being hidden away in the tents, but the alternative is no longer practical.
In all seriousness, havnt gone to a 'family day' for signatures for at least 10 years....Go for the possible sales of jumpers, the presentation and the few words from the captain/coach.
