About the Club
Who is the Yarra Jets Football Club Inc?
Yarra Jets is an inner north Melbourne soccer club, domiciled in City of Yarra, that exists to provide access for locals to play football (soccer) and participate in organised sport. Volunteer administrators and a committee made up of members run the club. The club is a relatively new club, established in 2009.
Key aims of the club are social inclusion, introduction to soccer and team sports, providing cheapest access to the game and ensuring members and players can learn about discipline, teamwork, listening, good behavior, and sportsmanship with a priority on enjoyment. Costs to play at the club and within the FFV soccer structure are kept to a minimum to provide access to most and there are assistance packages available to provide access to socially disadvantaged through fundraising and generous local sponsors such as Rotary. For context, underage children can play at Yarra Jets for approx. $400.00 per annum as opposed to in excess of $1,000.00 per annum at other comparable clubs in the area.
Yarra Jets are run by a group of dedicated volunteers whose mission is to provide the best possible football experience to our members. We aim to evenly spread the administrative tasks across our club community. We aspire to give all our players access to the best possible coaching and maximize their chances to achieve their full football potential. We aim to strike the right balance between coaching costs and player fees. As with all voluntary roles, it is difficult to manage the club without having the coercive power of remuneration for execution of duties aligned with roles and responsibilities within the club and often the running of the club is challenging as volunteers are unable to fulfil requirements due the other demands in their lives.
The club aims to ensure every child that wants to play soccer finds a team to play in at our club and therefore, as the popularity of the soccer has grown in recent years, the club has had to expand very quickly to meet the demand.
The club pays attention to girls and women’s soccer and promotes their participation in the sport. From a start of 3 teams in 2009, the club now has 31 teams catering for approximately 500 people, of which 14 teams are girls or women’s teams. Last year we received a prestigious award from City of Yarra for our promotion of women in sport.
See the Yarra Jets Club Constitution here.
In the Community - The Scolarship Program
The Yarra Jets runs a supported scholarship program for players from public housing in the City of Yarra and nearby municipalities to gain access to organised team sport. Annually up to 55 players are recent arrivals from Horn of Africa and Middle East and elsewhere.
Most come from areas of civil war and conflict, such as Southern Sudan, Somalia, Iraq and Afghanistan. Many of the players grew up as refugees in countries such as Kenya and Egypt where football was the main sport. The opportunity the club provides for the players to use their skills and abilities is enormous. The social benefit to refugee and local born kids is immeasurable.
Most of the funding for these places comes from grants and sponsors. Assistance or support for these programs is always welcome from organisations or generous members of the community.
Grounds
Matches and training are held at venues around Clifton Hill including Quarries Park, George Knott Reserve (Collingwood Athletics Track), Walker Street Reserve, Fairlea Oval, McCutheon Reserve & Atherton Gardens
