MAY Panthers of the Month

In what is now a monthly event, the SAFC will present three awards to some outstanding South Adelaide people that we believe have best displayed our brand in recent times. Each month we will award a “Can-Do Panther of the Month”, a “Visionary Panther of the Month” and a “United Panther of the Month”.  Please note that anyone at the Club can nominate any member of the Club for any of these awards.  What we are looking for is people that best display the definitions of our brand, which you can easily find on our web-site, in Panthers News or in our annual reports. 

Can-Do – Geoff Huxtable

Can-Do – Panthers have an absolutely positive attitude at all times and in all circumstances.  Success will always be achieved by people with positive attitudes. These people acknowledge that we will not always be successful; however they believe that every problem has a solution and that they are never truly beaten.  They will always rise to the next challenge, they are fun to be around, and are excellent role models.

League Property Steward Geoff Huxtable, quite simply is first to arrive and last to leave from Pre-season to regular season.
He won’t always have a smile on his face, but he performs his role with a minimum of fuss.
Everything gets where it needs to be, which is all you can ask in the role.
Geoff has a very much Can Do attitude.

Visionary – Andrew Luckhurst-Smith

The Visionary Panther of the Month has displayed an outstanding ability to dare to be different and have the courage to develop and implement new ideas.  He/she has been willing to think outside the square, to consider new ideas and better ways to do things.  He/she recognizes the risks, and has been prepared to challenge established mindsets to drive profound change within our club.

Andrew had a vision in 2007 to recreate the former SAFC Vice Presidents group, a group that was active in the ‘70’s and ‘80’s but which dissipated in the ‘90’s when the club re-located to Noarlunga and lost a lot of that “business” support that was associated with the clubs traditional home base in the Adelaide Central Business District.

Andrews vision was to re-establish this group, which as a result of the members business contacts would be able to assist the club in fundraising and in sourcing employment opportunities for players.

In 2008, with the support and encouragement of the club, A L-S re-launched the Vice Presidents as The Kingstonians. A L-S secured 14 members in that first year, grew it to 16 in 2009 and this year has grown it further to a current membership of 42.

Andrew wins the “Visionary” Panther of the Month award for his outstanding effort and commitment in re-establishing the Kingstonians and we look forward to the continued growth of this group over the next few years.

United – Tom Jolly

The United Panther of the Month understands that the Panthers are united in their objective to become a respected and consistently successful club.  He/she displays a common bond with all members and is loyal, honest and willing to make sacrifices and work together as one, from beginning to end, to achieve the clubs goal of consistent success.

Hailing from the Reynella FC Tom Jolly began his football journey at the Panthers in the development squads. Last year he debuted in the Panther U16’s before playing his first U18 game in R6 this year. Over the last month Tom has gone out of his way and shown tremendous leadership within the U18 group. Most recently he has initiated regular Thursday night dinners for the team and also shown maturity beyond his years when the playing group was required to take training last month. Tom is a loyal, honest and reliable individual who is willing to make sacrifices to ensure that the team and club come first at all times. He is a most deserved winner of the May United Panther of the Month Award.