IN THE LIONS DEN

Congratulations to the Senior Colts. With THREE IN A ROW pemierships they are certainly making their own history!

Well, the footy season is now over so this website will be having a rest. It'll be interesting to see what will eventuate with it over the season break.

I apologise that I haven't always had the time to keep her updated,with work comittments it's becoming increasingly challenging for me to keep in touch with everything that is happening, but please don't forget we have a fantastic Facebook page which has fast become our most dynmaic and immediate community portal online.

And while she has more than served her original purpose well, our little site here is now nine years old and possibly fast approaching her use-by date.

First up, as webmaster - in this age of the online social network - I've decided to close the forum, as basically nobody ever really used it, and all it was doing was accumulating spider bots and spam phishers which required a lot of constant and probably unnecessary maintenance. The time demanded and the hastle just wasn't worth it anymore. The club now has a very active and dynamic Facebook profile group where all the latest news and issues can be shared. So, you'll now notice that our "Forum" link in the main navigation bar will take you directly to the SGFC Facebook page. At first as a passer-by you may only be able to see the profile in general, but of course, you'll have to join Facebook to actually participate in and see more of it.

Secondly, while I still love the club - it will always be home, I am growing increasingly aware that this website is becoming somewhat obsolete - I no longer live in Gawler so I wonder how removed I now am - and hence how relevant this site is anymore. Unfortunately it is also increasingly becoming difficult for me to devote the appropriate amount of time to webmastering it. It was built in a now outdated way which makes her sometimes quite inefficient to manage.

All websites have a lifespan - technology has evolved with how the internet is now delivered and so has the availability and accessibility of more interactive and dynamic presences on the web. A number of good folks and fellow members of the SGFC have discussed with me the role and position of this website in the day-to-day life of all Lions and the South Gawler community - and I have to reluctantly agree that perhaps it is now just a store of facts and figures more than anything else. And that's fine for what it is, but the club needs more from it.

Originally, the most paramount intention of this little site was to keep and continue adding to all of the history which myself and Garry Hurst had discovered and established way back in 1989. However, things have changed and today we all spend a lot more of our social time online - and let's face it, this little static site is showing some inflexibility with her age - too primitive for some of the things we expect everyday now in our online experience.

So, while I'm still extremely proud of this project which I started with Jim Callander, and nor am I going to take this site down just yet - I will continue to fiercely preserve all of the honour rolls and history lists that populate it - I have decided to put out a call to the Lions family for someone to take over the website from me in a whole new and better form. I am not imposing any timeframe, but change has to come, so maybe a working party or delegation from the committee might be established to oversee a handover. This will be no mean feat. It will be a huge task and a lot of work. All I ask is that we somehow safeguard all of this knowledge of our great club, to remember the spirits of our past so we can achieve success again today and in the future.

Anyway, have a great summer and I look forward to some response to my call.

As always, go the mighty Lions!

Dave Heinrich