“Meet the Man”

Clive Berghofer was born and bred in the Toowoomba area and his rags to riches story epitomises what can be achieved by a lot of hard work. It is certainly an intriguing self-made success story that started when Clive left school at 13 years of age with little prospects for the future.

After working in a sawmill, then with a building gang, by watching and learning he taught himself ways to do the work quicker and more efficiently. Clive worked weekends and took jobs that others wouldn't and put his heart and soul into whatever task he took on. To this day Clive still approaches everything with the same vigour.

Clive Berghofer Land Sales is Thunders Principal Sponsor. When speaking with Clive recently I asked him why he supported so many sporting clubs and his answer may surprise you. He attended a small school just outside of Toowoomba, and there were only a handful of students – certainly not enough to ever make a team, so it was always something he wanted to do, but didn’t. His support of local sporting teams stems from that desire as a young man, to play in a team !

It reminds me that it is a privilege to have parents & friends who will help you get across the country to play your chosen sport – and an honour to you all that you are selected at this 2nd division level of Football in Australia as it continues to grow in popularity.

It is also interesting that we are sponsored by such a man, who understands the level of passion and commitment required to excel in your chosen field, whether that be Football now, or career paths of the future.

His passion for giving back to the community extends to sizeable donations to Careflight, Red Cross, St Vincent’s Hospital, the Toowoomba Hospice and the USQ as well as numerous sporting associations including our own.

So let’s be appreciative – feel free to let him know – and continue to support our principal sponsor Clive Berghofer Land Sales!

THUNDER TALK

• Our Thanks to 2017 Thunder Men’s Keeper, Luke McDonald, (pictured above) who returned in the Thunder Men vs Western Pride FC match at Clive Berghofer Stadium. Our regular keeper Mario Aparicio is unable to play in matches vs Western Pride due to conflicting interests. Luke generously stepped in to fill the spot, Thanks for putting the gloves on for Thunder, Luke! #thunderloyalty #thunderfamily #whosnext
• Thunder Players have been scoring HATTRICKS again, Eli Adams put 3 past the keeper (U18’s vs ?), Henry Wells scored a fantastic 4 goals (U15 Boys vs Brisbane Strikers) and followed up with a further 3 goals (U15 Boys vs Moreton Bay), Maddy Lockwood netted 3 goals (U17 Girls vs Moreton Bay). Chloe Hutton put 3 past the keeper (U17 Girls vs Moreton Bay) ** apologies if I have incorrect information - my Game Day App is not working for me to confirm the stats! Feel free to add any missed Thunder Players Achievements in the FB Thunder Express Post!
• Thunder Goalies have been keeping CLEAN SHEETS, Marcus Johnson (U15 Boys vs Brisbane Strikers), Harrison Hepner (U14 Boys vs Lions FC?) ** apologies if I have incorrect information - my Game Day App is not working for me to confirm the stats! Feel free to add any missed Thunder Players Achievements in the FB Thunder Express Post!

• Great to see our SWQ Thunder U14 Boys, Levi & Luke, (pictured above) come to the SWQ Thunder Men V Magpie Crusaders game to support the club & their Coach, Thunder Men’s player Travis Cooper at Clive Berghofer Stadium! #thunderfamily
• Congratulations to Thunder Coach Dan Percy on gaining his Senior C License qualification. Dan currently coaches the Thunder NPL U15 Boys Team. #thundercoacheducation #sooooomuchpaperwork
• Coaching 101# Lions FC U18’s Coach was caught in a “how not to coach moment” after yelling at his team from the sideline in their recent 5-0 Loss to Thunder for all the crowd to hear “Can anyone actually pass to our team instead of to blue” ........ that would be a NO or at least not very often! #toofunny #frustratedcoach #thunderwin A great win by our Thunder U18’s and a very entertaining game to watch..... #chasingatopfourspot
• The not to be named former Thunder lollipop eating Goalkeeper made another appearance in the Thunder Men vs Lions FC match! HOW is a player able to eat a lollipop while on the field & WHY? #thatstickcouldpokeaneyeout #wewontevenmentionthebeanie
• A comedian in the crowd cracked a funny when a Thunder player was being treated for an injury on the field. When being assessed, the Physio had the player lie on his back and bent said players leg up to his stomach - the joker in the stands timed the “fart noise” at just the right time to bring a chuckle from the crowd! #supportershenanigans #whyarefartjokessofunny #boyswillbeboys
• Just a quick mention on how fantastic our SWQ Thunder Parents, Managers & Coaches are on Home Game Days helping out with running lines on games Junior NPL games when Referees may be down a linesmen - Thunder truly appreciates the help and generous volunteering from our Thunder Family. I recently attended 3 Junior NPL AWAY games where the host team could not supply a 3rd linesman for all games and where the host teams manager, coaches and parents DID NOT volunteer to assist. However our Thunder family still stepped up and gave a helping hand. Great Job Thunder - you make us all proud!
• You can’t wear earrings on the playing field… even taped over, it is still at the Referee’s discretion, so please keep that in mind when getting new piercings. #butyouCANeatalollipop
• Can our Thunder Mum who spoke to me about the Flamingo idea, make contact again ! You know who you are!!! Thanks, Mandy
• NPLW teams – U13, U15, U17 & Senior Women’s – are now training at Kearney Springs. It’s great news that the lights are on, goals are in place, and line-marking complete. (Many Thanks to our Sponsor Advance Buildings Systems – Steel Frames - for lending their crane truck and driver, and to Tim Littlejohn and Keagan Sheridan for line-marking the fields). Now for some facilities…..anyone with a temporary port-a-loo they can lend us??

• We have 3 men who perform Emcee (or is it MC) duties at our stadium games – it’s quite a talent to decipher & pronounce some of those ‘special’ names that crop up on team sheets! So we share our appreciation for the entertainment guys!! Thanks to Snow Green, Brian Marriage, and Jason Hall, our regular ground announcer volunteers.
• Our U13, U15, U17 Girls & Women are looking great in their Priceline Pharmacy sponsored pink socks and jerseys for the Goalkeepers.

Representation Recognition

Thank you thank you thankyou, to those who have sent in photos of thunder players proudly representing the region through school sport. I would like to take a moment to explain why in the past we have not included school sport achievements in our newsletter.

State School Championships are not linked to FQ and therefore as a club we have never been provided with information from FQ relating to player involvement. The Queensland Country and Queensland player pathways (through FQ) for boys and girls is a club notified achievement. Through out this season we have had many players represent Darling Downs and Queensland through school sport and in keeping with past habits we have not named players or singled out school sport achievers, it would be difficult to change this now as many players will have not been recognised.

If parents and coaches are happy to supply the information next season, we would love to give these players a shout out and will start the season with this in mind. We congratulate all players who have represented the Darling Downs (and there are lots) and those who go on to represent the State, as a club we are extremely proud of your individual achievements.

SWQ Thunder FC is proud to assist with player development through our coaching, game opportunities and FQ player pathways which assist our Thunder family in achieving their best performances both for our club and in school sporting achievements!

Background Picture: Mario Aparicio | SWQ Thunder FC Men

Thunder Milestones

Jacob Bigby

SWQ Thunder FC Men’s Team Captain Jacob Bigby played his 79th NPL Senior Men’s game (vs Moreton Bay United) for SWQ Thunder FC, making him the most capped player for the club. Jacob surpassed former Thunder player Tom Fanning who was in the lead with 76 Thunder games.

#couldbemore #6weeksuspension 😳

Keagan Sheridan

Congratulations to SWQ Thunder FC Men’s player Keagan Sheridan who has racked up 100 NPL Senior Men’s games (for SWQ Thunder FC & Western Pride FC). Keagan’s tally for Thunder stands at 76 games, a close third behind current Men’s Captain, Jacob Bigby & former Thunder Player Tom Fanning. It’s likely that before the end of the season Keagan will take 2nd spot on the leaderboard.

#weforgiveyouforplayingatpride

Fletcher mcdonald

Congratulations to U18 & U20’s player, Fletcher McDonald, who made his Senior Mens debut vs Mackay Whitsundays Magpies Crusaders. Fletcher becomes the first SWQ Thunder player to come from U12 NPL Juniors all the way through to Senior Men!

#commitment #thunderpride #thunderfamily

Presentation night 2018

Friday 31st August, 2018

Presentation Night Invite!

As the season for 2018 wraps up we invite Coaches, players, parents and families to come together at THE BLANK SPACE, Mills Precinct Ruthven St.

Snag Daddy (gourmet hotdogs) and Pickwick Baked Spuds will be serving food and soft drinks from 5:30 and we would love for everyone to come along and eat and chat for an hour.

We will kick off the presentation at 6:30 and move through teams, starting from U9 SAP teams and progressing to Senior Teams. We anticipate the evening will conclude by about 10:00pm at the latest and parents with young children may choose to take them home at the half way mark if they can’t go the distance.

There is NO attendance charge for the evening, there will be a bar available for all over 18 to purchase drinks and of course we hope you support the local foodies and buy your dinner before the night kicks off.

MAKE-up MADNESS

Catch up Game info

There are many questions flying around regarding catch-up games – where will they be? When we will be notified? How can there be finals if all games are not played? What is the process for rescheduling games? And on and on and on……

Unfortunately we do not have all the answers but here is what I can tell you.

About three weeks ago there was approx. 90 games needing to be rescheduled and played across the competition and of those 90 games Thunder have 17. That may seem like we have a large number of games to play compared to other clubs and if you do the calculations and percentages we do. Location, Location, Location, it is far easier to reschedule a mid week make up game in the same city as the opposition. Travelling mid-week as a Thunder team can cause concerns for players with school and work commitments.

Of those 17 games only 3 are Thunder home games and these are games we can have the most imput into rescheduling. There is a process emailing back and forward with suggestions of suitable times and venues, through FQ to opposition teams and hopefully an agreeable time for both teams can be negotiated. If we are not the home team we must sit back and wait for the opposition to offer us a suitable time and venue. Obviously what suits one team and what suits another is often very different, throw in that referees must be available and the door is closing on the end of the season and you can imagine the task FQ are faced with. It is unlikely that all games will be played; FQ will follow the process and advise our club administrator of the outcome of all unplayed games.