Family Day

[GoNorth]

Sorry if this has been posted elsewhere (I couldn't find it).

Did anyone go to the Family Day yesterday? Anything to report?

 

[71011]

I was there, although not many others were. Very poor turnout. Not much to report, no Arch, Pertrie, Simmo or Liegh Brown. Quick interviews with Laids, Walsh and the new recruits. Not much to see.

 

[Star]

Yep, took the family along, a few impressions.

- Poor turnout, which was a shame because the kids rides were free and it was a nice day.

- Players were very accessible (perhaps due to poor crowd) but the kids loved the opportunity to get up close and personal with Boomer, Shagger and their idol, Wellsy.

- Hamish M looks very fit not an ounce of puppy fat in sight. Hale looks to have also put on more kilos. Hay and Rawlings of the Jade variety looked very much at home.

- I was close to seeking a restraining order against the raffle ticket sellers that approached us 238 times to buy tickets.

- My 2yo daughter got on the winner of the Kangaroos race (4 I think) but it paid bugger all.

 

[cobba]

yeh ya right, got a few autographs and met the new blokes, mcconnell seems like a great bloke and he will wear number 5 next season,he said he will be looking to play midfield and that he will play at north ballarat next season, if you wnat more numbers just reply below. lol

 

[tashibatts]

Anybody changed numbers?

Go Roos

 

[cobba]

hay= 2
mcconnell= 5
powell= 19
rawlings= 27

 

[tashibatts]

Thanks..

Go Roos

 

[My North]

so it was a crap day then?

 

[sross]

The venue was great with all the rides free. By far the best venue we have had for the Christmas Family day especially if you had children. I thought the crowd was a bit thin but on speaking to a couple of staff members they were pleased with the turnout.
I think it is amazing that if they said this day was free they would have got a much bigger crowd but because it is $5 people stay away. The entry fee also included entry to the races, we stayed on and watched them all then ventured up to the Tabaret for a few coldies. Thoroughly enjoyed the day.

 

[myty]

The venue was great with all the rides free. By far the best venue we have had for the Christmas Family day especially if you had children. I thought the crowd was a bit thin but on speaking to a couple of staff members they were pleased with the turnout.
I think it is amazing that if they said this day was free they would have got a much bigger crowd but because it is $5 people stay away. The entry fee also included entry to the races, we stayed on and watched them all then ventured up to the Tabaret for a few coldies. Thoroughly enjoyed the day.

Pretty much agree with everything you've said. Thought it was by far the best setup we've had for a family day. The small crowd was a huge dissapointment. What does the Club have to do? Do you think the $5 was the real reason people stayed away? Usually its free but you have to pay for the kids rides. Worked out a fair bit cheaper for my family this time.

I'd be interested to hear from any supports/members in Melbourne who didn't go along. Busy because of Christmas, because it was at Moonee Valley?
I'm just puzzled to why the crowd was down so much.

I think the Club has a huge problem with things like this. If you can't get people along to a cheap day like this, survival is always going to be a struggle.

 

[Vertical Stripes]

A lot of members would definitely not have gone because they had to pay $5 entry. They say "I'm a member why should I pay". Another thing that would have been a turn-off was that it was at the races. Some families and even singles are against gambling (religion etc.), and therefore would not have gone. They may have thought that the day was actually in amongst the gamblers (drinking, smoking, swearing etc.), when in fact it wasn't. A good idea would have been to of had a map of the venue posted out by mail, so that the families etc. would have seen that the rides etc. were completely removed from the main race-goers.

 

[sross]

The crowd at the races was very poor as well. Maybe it was the forecast of rain that kept the people away. Once again the weather man got it wrong.

I think it was pretty obvious that the family day function would not have been held in amongst the gamblers. People who go to the races don't want to be put off by the noise of amusement rides etc.

 

[ARDENSTREETforever]

I didnt go as i was playing cricket.
Family Days are normally SUNDAYS as this is the day where families are all together at any one time during the week, as Dads not working etc.
Saturday was no good for a lot of people as cricket is played on Saturday.

 

[Hearts to hearts]

We didn't go, but then we don't - as a two club family, we just stay away from social stuff set up by either club, especially off-season, when we enjoy a few months of footy-free time together. (Bigfooty time is ok as long as I keep it short and to myself...)

 

[Lidge]

A lot of members would definitely not have gone because they had to pay $5 entry. They say "I'm a member why should I pay". Another thing that would have been a turn-off was that it was at the races. Some families and even singles are against gambling (religion etc.), and therefore would not have gone. They may have thought that the day was actually in amongst the gamblers (drinking, smoking, swearing etc.), when in fact it wasn't. A good idea would have been to of had a map of the venue posted out by mail, so that the families etc. would have seen that the rides etc. were completely removed from the main race-goers.

If someone was too tight ar$ed to shell out $5 - I'd find it hard not to slap them.

I didn't take my kids along. Didn't forget either. I also live 3 blocks away from the track, and have no moral issue with racing and staging the event at Moonee Valley.

Simply too many things on - and choices. Little Athletics in the morning (7.45am to midday) fills half the Saturday in our house. We were going to attend, but on the way home, saw that the Queens Park (1 block away) swimming pool was having an opening day - also with free attractions (sumo wrestling, mini golf, water basketball, water polo, Mix FM promos & free giveaways).

Unfortunately swimming prevailed - as my kids chose that over a similiar free event down the road.

If my kids are anything to go by - perhaps incorporating a pool party theme with water based activities (afterall, Xmas is in summer) for the next Christmas Family Day. Might get a few more through the door.

 

[Twinkletoes]

I'm a Melbourne based member who knew about it, discussed it with a couple of fellow NMFC mates, and who didn't go.

We ummed and ahhed a bit, considered going, but chose not to (some may have though, as they have kids, which I don't).

We pretty much decided to leave our NMFC fix for the players BBQ/Raffle Day next week. I'm not a racing fan either (other than the one main Spring Racing Carnival week of the year of course)

Thanks for the reports guys

T'toes

 

[gokangas]

We considered going but didn't.

Thought the races was a poor choice - rolling the event into another event just complicated the message. It wasn't the traditional kangaroos family day.

We also had one member playing cricket - Saturday is a very shortsighted choice of days. Too many other things like kids sports happen on Saturdays.

The $5 wasn't an issue but some members did object to having to pay to go to the races to see the kanga players. The rides at the races are usually free for kids anyway to try and attract families to the races.

To me it seemed a short sighted way to boost race numbers (wonder why) but it doesn't seem to have worked. Hope the club now focuses on the Kangaroo brand and forgets trying to get a free ride on another poorly attended event. People who hadn't been to the races before would find this whole concept quite daunting.

I suppose it would have reduced costs and set up times etc for staff - that was probably the attraction. But it doesn't seem to have got the support they hoped.

 

[GoNorth]

Main reasons we didn't go...Living on the Mornington Peninsula it seemed a bit far away for us to go - the only time I've been to Moonee Valley was for the Syd Barker night and it seemed to take forever to get there that night.
We are also not racing fans and thought we would have to do battle with the racing crowd for parking spots, increased traffic etc.
We were unsure of exactly how it would be set up in relation to the races etc.

I don't have an issue with paying a $5 entry fee at all. It's a minimal amount.

I guess Arden Street is unavailable with cricket on but we used to have family days there once upon a time. Why are they trying all these different venues now? From memory, they have held Family Days at Telstra Dome, Luna Park, near the Polly Woodside and now Moonee Valley. Even the Family Day which is held just prior to the season started is no longer held at Arden Street. Hasn't the cricket always been played there? Why has it only been a problem in the last few years? If it's because of the (lack of) toilet facilities at Arden Street, surely they can get portable ones in for the day. Or do they cost too much?

Thanks everyone for the reports.

 

[sross]

Just a couple of comments on previous posts and I am not trying to 'have a go' at any of you, just providing a little information.

The area where it was held has been specially set up by the Moonee Valley Racing Club to hire out for Christmas parties. It was set up in October and will taken away after Christmas. It is not just one or two little rides that would normally have been free at the races.

The area was isolated from racegoers, but for those North people who wanted to watch a race you only had to walk outside the enclosed party area and you could see the horses come around the last bend and through to the finish. Most people would hardly have even seen one of those 'drunken, smoking, swearing, betting' racegoers.

As for it taking forever to get there, Moonee Valley is a 5 minute drive from Arden Street, probably closer to our spiritual home than our home playing venue of Telstra Dome. The parking area is at least as big as the MCG car park

The day certainly provided much more for the children than has previously been on offer at Telstra Dome, Polly Woodside, Exhibition Buildings or even our beloved Arden Street and that is really what the Christmas function is all about. I never went to Luna Park but was an entry fee charged there ?

I went and I don't have any children of applicable age and enjoyed the day and would hope that North look at this venue next year and hope we can get a few more there with a little more detailed publicity from the club.

 

[dani77]

I went, I took my 5 year old and he had an absolute ball. he loved the rides and we didn't have to line up once for a single ride. He went on all of them more than once too (as did I, the matterhorn and break dance )

he also had his photo taken with Santa, Boomer, Shagga, Harro and Jess Sinclair and then got the back of the photo signed by all the players! he had his face painted and then for a $2 lucky dip he won a full size yellow Kangaroo footy.

The only things I paid for were $10 for the pic and $2 for the lucky dip and of course $5 fro my entry.

It really was a fantastic day and Luke loved the fact that all things he did were manned by players, he got to meet all of them and even chose a new fave since Colby's retirement, he chose Hale, because Hale told him his hair was super cool

Great work by the club and I would definately go again

 

[gokangas]

Appreciate the comments on how good the day was - but the perceptions of a lot of people, and being a Saturday, would have kept a lot of people away.

I would have gone but as detailed earlier always have competing family activities on Saturdays. Sounds like it was a winner in terms of facilities but there are still a lot of people who do not want to be associted with the races.


Probably needs to be sold better next year especially the bit that you don't have to be in the general race course area but there is a special area established.

Credit to the club for trying something different but that does come with risks.