A few words from the President ....

At the Christmas Party, Ron Crompton, President of Hornsby Rockets, thanked those who made 2009 a very good year for the team, and foreshadowed some events for 2010:

I would like to welcome everyone here to night & to thank our two Patrons Judy Hopwood (MP for Hornsby) and Nan Horne for their ongoing support this year.

Thank you also to Margaret and Dave McMonnies, from Building Code & Bushfire Hazards Solutions for their ongoing sponsorship of the Rockets, unfortunately they are unable to attend because of family commitments.

To Wendy Escott from Studio Artes, our thanks for allowing us to hold our committee meetings in their workshop.

On behalf of the Committee, our thanks to Lucy for organising this night for the Hornsby Rockets and supporters, a great job.

There have been some great events held over the last twelve months with our first trivia night, which was a huge success, many thanks to all the work of the committee, parents and Karen Story for helping to putting the night together. People are looking forward to next year event.

The Rockets held a social night at Michel’s Berowra courtesy of Les Abood the owner, numbers were down, but those who attended had a great evening.

The Rockets attended the Nationals in Rockhampton which was a great trip, enjoyed by all. Whilst not winning any medals the team had some great experiences visiting the crocodile farm, holding a real one, going to the rodeo at the great western hotel, were our host Rocky ensured we had great seats. Warren made a wish that a cowboy would land on his table - it did happen!

We attended several competitions during 2009:

Macarthur. winning 19 Gold, 13 Silver, 4 Bronze, 1 trophy & Club Champions Trophy.
Singleton, winning 10 gold, 8 silver, 10 bronze & 1 trophy
Strathfield - we won 20 gold, 8 silver, 1 bronze & 4 trophies.

Overall the team won a total of 49 gold, 29 silver, 14 bronze medals & 7 trophies a great effort by all players taking part in the competitions.

We also attended a fun day at Maitland, which had some eventful happenings on the day; they are working on having a competition weekend next year.

The Rockets held their first Invitational competition 18-19 April which was attended by 6 clubs, a total of 76 bowlers. Thanks to all the parents that assisted on the day and special thanks to Denis Wilson for entering the scores and preparing the final score tallies.

We held our second Challenge Night which was a huge success. People are still talking about what a great night it was, I have had enquires from people wishing to put a team in for 2010 Challenge Night, we will confirm a date later in the new year.

2010 is looking like a great year again with a trivial night planned for Saturday 1st May to raise funds.

We will be holding the Hornsby Rockets Invitational on Saturday and Sunday the 17th & 18th of April, Help will also be needed to ensure it is a successful event.

The Rockets will be travelling to Perth in for the National Disability Competition from the 29th May to 5th June with a group of 21 bowlers & carers travelling to take part in this event.

We will also be attending Macarthur, Strathfield & maybe Illawarra, Singleton & hopeful Maitland in October for bowling competitions.

I will be posting a calendar during the Xmas break with details of events for 2010, membership application form, TBA membership forms, dates of general meetings and also a roster for Saturday mornings for parents to help to organise the bowling, and allow those who regularly give up their Saturday morning, to have some time off.

All this would not have been possible without the help of the parents who offered their support and committee members who at times were tested by my demands to achieve the best for the Rockets. There are some parents that I would like to publicly thank for their support and understanding. Annette, Esther, Anna, Denis and Jill.

I would like to thank the players and parents for supporting me as President of Hornsby Rockets, who have proven to be very caring, friendly and supportive group of people to each other, as well as players and parents from other bowling teams.

Lastly I would like to thank Gary Wallace for providing the music tonight, his time & effort in putting a song together about the Hornsby Rockets.

Thank you all!