To all members of the Moonee Valley Football Club community

I hope you're all enjoying the off-season and managing the end to the year as best as you can.

I wanted to take a moment to introduce myself and give you a brief update on what's happening at the club.

For those who aren't aware, Paul McMenamin has decided to step down from the role of Junior President and has offered me the opportunity to take the reins. Paul has been an outstanding Junior President for the last three years, continuing to evolve the club through the ever-growing Friday Night Bites, multiple premiership successes, fantastic participation and engagement levels all underpinned by a culture that I know I am extremely proud of. Luckily for us (and me), Paul has graciously decided to continue as a Junior Committee member to continue to guide the club with his knowledge and experience.

At the same time, I'd also like to acknowledge the contributions of Brad Young and Leon Townsend-Booth who have decided to step down from the Junior Committee. They have both been long-standing members on the committee and have taken the club from strength to strength over their many years of involvement. In particular, I am so thankful to Brad for his passionate drive of the "Don't be that parent" campaign which started from humble beginnings and has now been rolled out to 16 clubs throughout the EDFL and to Leon for his support, enthusiasm and guidance when I first got involved with Moonee Valley with Auskick in 2021.

Personally, I'm really honoured to be given the opportunity to be the Junior President of this club. To find out a bit more about me and what I'm hoping to focus on, check out the video by clicking on the image at the top of this post.

Open Day
As we roll towards the end of November, we're gearing up for our Open Day this Sunday from 9 to 11am. We will have free sausages for children, a chance to meet the coaches for the 2026 season and some special guests from our Sports Performance partners, Life Performance, who will have a podiatrist to talk all things footy boots as well as specialists to answer questions you might have about load management for children and the Youth Athletic Development Program that they offer. Life Performance will also be helping to run a vertical leap competition, just like what is used at the AFL Draft Combine events, with prizes to be handed out to winners by age.

This Sunday will also mark the start of "pre-season training" with the following age groups kicking things off:
- Boys U10s: 8:45 to 10 (Small oval)
- Boys U12s & U14s (joint): 8:30 to 9:30 (Main oval)
- Boys U16s: 9:30 to 10:30 (Main oval)

The Girls teams have their first sessions on:
- U12s: Sun 7 Dec, 9:45 to 10:45 (Small oval)
- U14s: Wed 10 Dec, 5 to 6pm (Small oval)
- U16s: Wed 26 Nov, 6 to 7pm (Small oval)

*U8s - Please note your training days/times will commence in early 2026, please keep an eye out on our socials for more details.

Junior Committee
Of course, no one succeeds alone, and I am extremely fortunate to be supported by a wonderful group of committee members who have agreed to continue (or start) to volunteer their time and effort in 2026.
Justin Giuliano: President
Rebecca Flanagan: Boys Coordinator
Andrew Butler: Girls Coordinator
Jane Stivala: Trainers Coordinator
Linc Walkom: Team Manager Coordinator
Tam Giuliano: Registrations Coordinator
Wayne Chadwick: Secretary
Mark Megalla: Welfare Coordinator
Jeanette Williams: Events Coordinator
Tanya Chiera: Communications Coordinator
Cate Goode: Communications Support
Paul McMenamin: General Committee Member

We are looking for a Merchandise Coordinator to assist our community in purchasing club gear on Friday nights. If anyone is interested, please let me know. This can be a parent or one of our older Junior players or even someone looking to complete volunteering hours for the Duke of Edinburgh Award.

The Junior Committee have been hard at work preparing for the Open Day and also confirming and interviewing candidates for coaching roles. And it's because of this hard work that I'm able to confirm that we have nine coaches committed for the 2026 season before the end of November. There are still a couple of positions we are looking to confirm but we are doing all we can to do so as quickly as possible.

In the meantime, I'm looking forward to seeing many of you on Sunday. If I don't catch you on Sunday and you have any questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to contact me on the details below.

With gratitude

Justin Giuliano
0409 991 358
mvfcjuniors@gmail.com