By Gary Stocks

After a disappointing 2011 campaign North Beach is looking
forward to returning as a force in the competition this season.

During the off-season the club has taken the opportunity to
assess the short-comings of a season that did not produce a single premiership
and much work has been done to remedy a year of under achievement.

The A-Grade and A-Reserves were beaten in the preliminary finals
and other teams that made the finals all bowed out early.

With that pain lingering, the club will officially begin
pre-season training on Thursday, February 1 at Charles Riley Reserve. Senior
coach Bill Duckworth said everyone was looking forward to the opportunity of
taking the first physical steps towards atonement.

“Right across the club we were disappointed with the 2011
season,” Duckworth said. “We fell short of our own expectations and have spent
some time assessing the reasons for that.

“We have been recruiting aggressively, which is positive and
already we can feel a positive vibe around the upcoming season.

“There were a number of reasons for why we were short of the
mark last season and while you are winning you might gloss over some of the
issues. We believe we have taken some positive action, but the proof starts on
the track and that begins with pre-season training.”

After winning an Australian record of seven successive
A-Grade premierships, North Beach was pushed into third position when clearly
University and Mt Lawley were the benchmark clubs of 2011.

But the Beach is not prepared to concede that a magnificent era
has come to an end and is committed to rectify that situation, starting on
February 2 at 6pm. The club welcomes all players, looking to be a part of the
2012 season, whether they be A-Grade stars or contributors in the lower senior
grades or the under-19s to begin training on that evening.

With five senior teams and two under-19s teams, there is a
place at the club for players of all levels.