Supporters Club

[Jeffles]

Well said Henson

 

[TheRefPlaysForParramatta]

well, once the JISM is out there, people will flock support it. Then eventually, JISM will roll out to every away game, and pester the opposition... while at the same time, drawing more support at every ground

 

[hrundi99]

Perhaps you could meet at the Jets Sports Club...

 

[Henson Park Hornets]

Yeah I think that a meeting at the Jets Sports club might be a better idea. Anyone thought about a date yet?

If this is going to take off (pardon the pun!) how about for the time being we call ourselves the N.I.S.A. "Newtown Indepenant Supports Association"? Unless we go for the JISM... So to speak?

 

[greg]

Another word for independent is "autonomous". "Newtown Autonomous Supporters Assoc." That would be the acronym of "NASA", when there are jets involved that would be quite an appropriate acronym. Food for thought.

 

[not keen on doug]

i think that the supporters club is a great idea but before we all get carried away with the name shouldnt we set up some ideas and goals so that we all know what direction we are heading in ?

the 2 that hph ( not the pub but the person ) has said are a good place to start . can anyone thinkk of some more ideas for the club to get it going ?

but its a great idea and hope that it takes off !

 

[Jeffles]

I think NASA is a great name!

 

[hrundi99]

As do I.

 

[Bluebag]

Well I hope it does get off the ground, I propose that all financial members of the JISM must also be financial members of the football club and perhaps 1 or 2 delegates can attend meetings with the board on a regular basis to promote ideas and share the fans view on what they l\would like to see. Obviously there will be financial issues in putting a lot of ideas into practice but the one thing that this club would like to br noted is that we wherever possible cater to our fans.

 

[Henson Park Hornets]

I'm not 100% keen on the idea that if you are a member of JISM then you have to be a member of the football club, as that may indicate that it's got something "offical" to do with the club and the main reason why I thought that the JISM would be a good idea was that it would be indepenant from the running of the club but could let the people who run the club know what the fans want and supply feedback about the running of the club. That's why I like the second point of you post Bluebag!
Not sure if that would be a problem if a member from JISM attended a board meeting but wasn't actaully a board member?

Keep the idea's rolling in!!!

Guess the next step is to organise a meeting to take place.

 

[Jeffles]

Not sure if that would be a problem if a member from JISM attended a board meeting but wasn't actaully a board member?

You wouldn't be there for the whole meeting - beleive me!

It is good to see a groundswell of support - and this is just on the forum. There are many supporters that don't visit here whose attention you may only capture next year at Henson Park.

Maybe NASA/JISM could be a source of organising wanted merchandise items on behalf of the club (ie. research costings for scarves, etc).

 

[The Dawson Twins Minus 1]

I'm intrigued that nobody wants to discuss my earlier post on this subject in any detail:

The Supporters Club (good people one and all) voted to dissolve itself a few years back to keep from dividing the club / supporters' efforts.


Some of the folks got more active with the running of the club / game day work, others limited their involvement to flying the Jets flag at home and away games.

I would say a seperate entity isn't needed. Maybe all it would take is just an avid supporter to act as a designated liason person - working with the club and organising the fan activities / transport /seating etc. for home and especially away game days.

I agree with Jeffles - trust me - no-one who didn't have to would want to sit through an entire Jets board meeting.

I feel a completely "Independant" supporters club would be of dubious value because it would by its very nature be disconnected from the realities of running the club.

This will doubtless cause problems in the long term. Why? Because all it would take to create a major division within the club is for a few characters to have a bee in their bonnet about things that are impracticable for financial or manpower reasons.

I can recall in the days of the previous Supporters' organisation that there were some pretty vehement hatreds floating round about individual officials from the SG folks simply because one of their pet projects hadn't been greenlighted.

When I checked out the facts, I found out they'd been told the realities of the matter, but it didn't stop them from making up their own version for propagation among their fellows.

Wouldn't it be better if such things were dealt with directly and in the open? Say in a regular "Fan's Forum" with club officials in attendance?

Then, if somebody wanted to push a particular gripe, they would have to submit their ideas before the meeting and then stand up in front of everyone and present their proposals in an intelligent and properly thought-out format.

Then, if it was proved not to be workable, they'd have to accept the referee's decision and avoid further silly rancour.

You say:

I'm not 100% keen on the idea that if you are a member of JISM then you have to be a member of the football club,

I can't understand why anyone in their vaguely right mind would want to be a member of JISM WITHOUT being also prepared to stump up the minimal figure for Jets membership anyway.

The last time I renewed my membership, it cost a trifling sum. Further, I would tend to suspect the motivations of anyone who claimed to be an active Jets fan and was unprepared to pay even that miniscule figure in support of the Jets.

You also said:

the main reason why I thought that the JISM would be a good idea was that it would be indepenant from the running of the club but could let the people who run the club know what the fans want and supply feedback about the running of the club.

I can't really see why independence is needed to make fans' concerns any more valid or valued by the club. The "Independent Supporters' Association" concept first arose in England because of club administrations that absolutely refused to communicate with members or take account of their concerns. You may disagree, but I don't believe Newtown fits that description.

Lastly:

Not sure if that would be a problem if a member from JISM attended a board meeting but wasn't actaully a board member?

It's happened a number of times before to my knowledge, but I should imagine it would be more useful if it was done in an organised regular "supporters' representative" format rather than on an ad-hoc basis. Contrary to popular belief, Newtown board meetings are mostly just sit-downs where the (rather heavy) workload gets divvied up between the attendees.

Please forgive me for suspecting that an Independent Supporters Movement's elected executive could easily end up having all the self-importance of a real club board without any of the responsibility or accountability.

I suppose I could sum up my viewpoint by saying I'd rather have as many as possible of the Jets faithful "inside the tent pissing out (on our enemies) than outside pissing in" - as the saying goes.

I repeat - we're far too small a club to profit by willingly dividing ourselves.

 

[2 True Blues]

Am certainly looking forward to hearing a loud Newtown ( clap clap clap ) Newtown ( clap clap clap ) chant from the hill at Henson nest season just like the one B43, HPH and I got going at the first semi final game in Canberra. It certainly caught on like cancer at the Saints semi and was on fire by the time we played Parra in the last semi.

Was awesome stuff, and would really make some noise if several hundred hill patrons got it going at once on game day at Henson next season.

I am pretty flat out at work HPH but would certainly get loud in the group on game days, and am also at most away games no matter where the boys play. At the very least we should all get together at the away games and make some noise like in the semi's last season. Think it was a good idea HPH and keep me posted brother.

We shouldnt right the JISM off just yet, as JISM makes the world go round.

 

[Henson Park Hornets]

DT-1, you make some very valid points and when I get a chance I'll respond properly.

Basially, I just feel that it would be of benefit for the club as a whole to have a "Supporters Club", if nothing else organising away trips and generally being a rallying point for some of the fans. Certainly don't want to rock the boat in any way.

 

[The Dawson Twins Minus 1]

HPH:

I know that division was never your intention. I just think it's a good idea to start out as you intend to go on. Sure, along with a way to get the faithful together to better support the team (especially at away fixtures), a supporters' grouping can be a great way to get across fans' concerns - so long as it's organised and productive, instead of personal sniping.

On the naming front, maybe if it turns out that no one wants to touch the JISM (has anyone done any "finds JISM hard to swallow" jokes yet?), then it could be a Jets Air Force or something.

I know it seems I'm a little fixated about the possibility of shoehorning unsuspecting fans into work on behalf of the Jets, but it probably comes from my own participation in such things in past years.

For example, there were our annual "Clean out the pigeon crap" evenings making the Jet-Set Lounge habitable with a Gerni and some scrubbing brushes at the start of each season.

These showed me yet again that there are no airs and graces among the Jets faithful, with directors and regular fans all putting their back into it on the day.

It occurs to me that, for example, a JISM working bee starting early in the day of, say, the first Henson trial would be quite a valuable exercise. It would not only get some valuable work done for the club, but it would also give all the participants a stronger sense of belonging if they could see first-hand exactly how our club differs from the mega-money outfits in the NRL.

In my experience, the Jets run on friendship, not finance. Also, I've seen that our members and volunteers believe in giving anyone a fair go who puts in to the best of their ability.

This applies right across the board, from the star players to the folks who sell the raffles on game day. If you're honourable and do your best, you'll get respect at the Jets.

Also, I think that kind of exercise would help people bond with their fellow supporters.

I've made friendships with exceptional people through helping out with the Jets that I hope to carry with me to my grave. Perhaps that's what I want other Jet fans to experience.

 

[2 True Blues]

Wouldnt know what JISM tastes like to swallow DTM1, but I wouldnt eat oysters either. Draw the line with anything that looks like a snail out of it's shell. You can put bacon on top of oysters and call it kilpatrick but it's all still JISM to me. LOL......

But if being in the supporters club means yellin your dates off in a group of fellow Royal Blue brothers in arms at away matches, count me in. Ill lose my voice for three days afterwards in the company of "one in all in"any day mate.

" One in all In " has been lacking at work for sometime with this new breed of arse kissin uni dicks and I am gettin sick of losin my voice alone at away matches. Bring it on HPH, I am with you till the end mate.

As far as scrapin pigeon sh*t. I ' will stick to being the noisiest Jets supporter possible and spending heaps of cash at the home games, whilst paying the most expensive membership possible for the sake of the club, and buying all the merchandise possible for myself and all families birthdays and christmas's.

 

[Big Keiths Love Child]

I think it sounds like a great idea HPH. Not only does it give us all a chance to get behind the Jets, but also to create a social network where we all share the same interest..
I'd certainly be interested in joining.

 

[Henson Park Hornets]

DT-1, I think that basically we need to, as you say, start as we mean to go on and that is my intention with the JISM.
If that means getting in and helping out at Henson Park then I'll be the first to help out. If it means organising a block of seats for an away game then I'm there, and anything else that is needed to help the club out.
As for the name, JISM may be a bit hard to swallow if we want to have the supporters club taken seriously, however if at the first meeting the members vote to keep it then so be it.
I wouldn't expect that if you joined the JISM you'd have to then help out the Jets, but if you wanted to then all the better.
Thanks for the support 2TB's and BKLC (love the name!) and everyone else.

Time to get the ball rolling!

 

[Jet of Steel]

Just a thought but how does "THE GROUND CREW" sound for a supporters group? After all thats what keeps Jets flying high!

 

[Jeffles]

My personal preference is for a name to have "Newtown" and/or "Jets" in it.

HPH if you want to have an opening meeting at the Jets Sports Club, Monday or Tuesday night is best.