November 2022 Update

Comments from our President       David_Shephard    

It only seems like yesterday I was wishing everyone good luck for the start of the season, and fast forward to today and our winter seasons are now all done and dusted for 2022. COVID-19 certainly presented us with some challenges in terms of coach and player availability, as well as with regular fixture changes, but I am pleased to say that as a Club we handled ourselves commendably.

Our teams performed very well across both junior and senior competitions. Several junior teams managed only a couple or no losses all season which is a fantastic achievement, and our men’s first team went on a great run in the latter half of the season to push toward the top of their division, ultimately finishing a very commendable 4th on the ladder. Extra special kudos however goes to our women’s team who had a stellar year and finished top of the table in their division. Well done ladies and hopefully we can leverage this fantastic result as we try to bring together an all-girls junior team in 2023.

As mentioned in previous correspondence, our number of registered juniors increased significantly in 2022, and we are looking to build on this as we head into 2023. Recent discussions within our Committee have helped lay the foundations for a junior development strategy for the next few years, and with numerous new registration queries already received over recent months, the future is looking even brighter for our juniors. Further details are provided in the following sections about registrations for and junior participation in 2023.

The Club has also been active on the social front and continues to consider opportunities to bring our members and supporters together across the football season. Our annual Quiz Night was held on Friday 15th July and again proved to be a great event with our clubrooms at near capacity for a night of food, fun and some crazy answers. Thanks to all our sponsors who provided a vast array of prizes for our winners and raffles, and of course to our hard-working Committee who put in a lot of work to ensure the evening ran smoothly. These efforts saw near-on $5,000 raised from this event which have been put back into the Club to support both our junior and senior teams with uniforms and equipment.

Friday 22nd July then saw members from our junior teams participate in a pre-game club parade around the hallowed Optus Stadium turf ahead of the international friendly between EPL stalwarts Crystal Palace and Leeds that was played in Perth. Just shy of 60 children decked out in their Ballajura AFC gear participated in this event which I’m sure will be a moment they will remember for some time to come. A huge shout out to our Registrar Christina Earley for her organisational skills in pulling this group together – we hope she only aged a little following her efforts in making this event happen!!

Whilst your Committee has worked tirelessly this year to ensure your Club and player experience ran as smoothly as possible, Committees don’t always get everything right, and so we welcome any feedback and suggestions from our members to help move the Club forward. In this connection, I’d also like to take this
opportunity to give notice of and invite anyone who is interested to our Club AGM on Sunday 27 November 2022 (1:00-2:00pm) at our clubrooms – we hope to have a few more members join us on the day for our discussions and formal voting activities.

Finally, don’t forget that we are also more active on our social media platforms these days, so please remember to like us and view us on Facebook for regular updates and information about upcoming activities, events and games, and be sure to keep an eye on our New Website too.

Best Regards

David Shephard (President)

Comments from our President          

It only seems like yesterday I was wishing everyone good luck for the start of the season, and fast forward to today and our winter seasons are now all done and dusted for 2022. COVID-19 certainly presented us with some challenges in terms of coach and player availability, as well as with regular fixture changes, but I am pleased to say that as a Club we handled ourselves commendably.

David_Shephard

Our teams performed very well across both junior and senior competitions. Several junior teams managed only a couple or no losses all season which is a fantastic achievement, and our men’s first team went on a great run in the latter half of the season to push toward the top of their division, ultimately finishing a very commendable 4th on the ladder. Extra special kudos however goes to our women’s team who had a stellar year and finished top of the table in their division. Well done ladies and hopefully we can leverage this fantastic result as we try to bring together an all-girls junior team in 2023.

As mentioned in previous correspondence, our number of registered juniors increased significantly in 2022, and we are looking to build on this as we head into 2023. Recent discussions within our Committee have helped lay the foundations for a junior development strategy for the next few years, and with numerous new registration queries already received over recent months, the future is looking even brighter for our juniors. Further details are provided in the following sections about registrations for and junior participation in 2023.

The Club has also been active on the social front and continues to consider opportunities to bring our members and supporters together across the football season. Our annual Quiz Night was held on Friday 15th July and again proved to be a great event with our clubrooms at near capacity for a night of food, fun and some crazy answers. Thanks to all our sponsors who provided a vast array of prizes for our winners and raffles, and of course to our hard-working Committee who put in a lot of work to ensure the evening ran smoothly. These efforts saw near-on $5,000 raised from this event which have been put back into the Club to support both our junior and senior teams with uniforms and equipment.

Friday 22nd July then saw members from our junior teams participate in a pre-game club parade around the hallowed Optus Stadium turf ahead of the international friendly between EPL stalwarts Crystal Palace and Leeds that was played in Perth. Just shy of 60 children decked out in their Ballajura AFC gear participated in this event which I’m sure will be a moment they will remember for some time to come. A huge shout out to our Registrar Christina Earley for her organisational skills in pulling this group together – we hope she only aged a little following her efforts in making this event happen!!

Whilst your Committee has worked tirelessly this year to ensure your Club and player experience ran as smoothly as possible, Committees don’t always get everything right, and so we welcome any feedback and suggestions from our members to help move the Club forward. In this connection, I’d also like to take this
opportunity to give notice of and invite anyone who is interested to our Club AGM on Sunday 27 November 2022 (1:00-2:00pm) at our clubrooms – we hope to have a few more members join us on the day for our discussions and formal voting activities.

Finally, don’t forget that we are also more active on our social media platforms these days, so please remember to like us and view us on Facebook for regular updates and information about upcoming activities, events and games, and be sure to keep an eye on our New Website too.

Best Regards

David Shephard (President)

Coaches, Sponsors & Life Members Event

The Club was pleased to hold its annual Coaches, Sponsors and Life Members appreciation afternoon at our home ground on Sunday 14th August 2022. This was an opportunity for the Club to give thanks to all those who have and continue to contribute greatly to the success of our Club.

Coaches, Sponsors & Life Members Event

The opportunity was also taken to present two of our newest major sponsors with a framed Ballajura AFC playing shirt in recognition of their substantial financial and inkind contributions to the Club. Sincere thanks to Dave & Steve from Signarama Burswood / Vic Park & Perth CBD, and Chris & Kyle from The Computing Australia Group for their respective companies coming on-board as major sponsors and for joining us on the day, and we look forward to welcoming you to other Club events moving forward. Huge thanks are also extended to one of our longest serving sponsors, Mike Cox and his business Acclaimed Catering for again putting on an amazing spread on the day.

Coaches, Sponsors & Life Members EventThe Club is also very pleased to announce the signing of two new sponsors for 2023 in AGFRI Equipment and The Firkin. Further acknowledgement of these businesses will be made soon and be sure to keep an eye out on social media regarding their offerings and contributions.

Be sure to check out our newly updated sponsors board in the hallway leading out of the main clubroom for a list of all of our valued Club sponsors (who are also of course listed on our Website).

Junior Trophy Presentation Day                  

Over 120 juniors and their families turned out on Sunday 16th October to enjoy our Junior Trophy Presentation Day and to celebrate the efforts and achievements of all our junior teams. This year saw a marked increase in our junior numbers with more teams competing across the junior age groups which was a very welcome development as we seek to continually improve and move forward stronger and stronger as a Club. Under a beautiful blue sky outside our clubrooms, participation awards were handed out to all of our committed juniors who also enjoyed a free sausage sizzle and drink on the day. As well as the ever-popular bouncy castles and skills games, it was also so great to see so many ‘kickabouts and impromptu games of football’ being played on the small sided pitches that had been set-up on the day.

Special mention must also go to all of our valued and hard-working coaches without whom we couldn’t field these junior teams and provide a fun development environment for our kids. This year saw numerous new coaches put their hand-up to look after one of our junior teams which Junior Trophy Presentation Daywas greatly appreciated, and these folk included Jason Wall (5/6s Miniroos), Diane Louden (7s Miniroos), Chris Pantany (8s Yellow Wombats), Peter Channer-Holmes & Muhamad Hussain (9s Yellow Echidnas), Andrew Craster (10s Yellow Bilbies), Bradley Prior (11s Yellow Koalas), and Dennis Gaye (14s North Div 3). They joined our returning junior coaches who continue to amaze us with their commitment and contributions in helping develop our young players, and these valued club members include Andrew Mutch (8s Yellow Koalas), Jason Earley (9s Yellow Koalas), Arthur Harrison (10s Purple Wombats), Bill Lyon (12s Yellow Koalas), and Albert Ferraloro & Paul Dalglish (12s Orange North). Thanks heaps to all our junior coaches and we hope to have as many of you back again next year (NB. we are already looking into some ‘coach specific training’ we can provide to help with your own learnings and development).

Congratulations to all the children who represented Balla this year and who helped deliver another great junior season for the Club. We will be holding the first of our Junior Open Training Sessions & Pre-Registrations on Sunday 27th November 2022 and look forward to seeing as many of our kids as possible getting along on this day as we begin our registration process for 2023. Details for all registration and training dates will be sent to all members via email and notices will also be posted on the Club’s Facebook page.

Senior Awards Presentation Night               

The Senior Awards Presentation Night has become one of the most anticipated and enjoyable events on the Club’s social calendar and this year’s instalment was no different. Once again held in the Botanicals Room at Crown Resort on Saturday, 22 October 2022, a great night was thoroughly enjoyed by over 130 members and supporters including players, coaches, Committee members, sponsors, better-halves and other guests. The night kicked-off with a wonderful welcome to country by our own Ben Hasler after which fine food & drink, presentations, dancing and loads of banter filled the evening. Special thanks also to the folk from our valued sponsors The Computing Group Australia and Signarama who also joined us on the night for the festivities.

A massive vote of thanks is again due to Christina Earley for the mountain of work she put into organising the event and so many things behind the scenes to ensure a great night for all who attend. How very fitting that Christina has been nominated in the Volunteer of the Year category of Football West’s Community Football Awards. We all congratulate her on this very well-deserved nomination and wish her well for the award announcements in the near future.

As always numerous awards for our senior team players are announced at this event by our respective senior coaches, as well as several other important achievements and awards the Club likes to recognise on the night. Our members and players are of course at the core of everything we strive to achieve at the Club, so it is always wonderful to see so many members being acknowledged and rewarded on the night for their individual efforts and exploits, and of course for those of their teams.

Congratulations to all our award winners, with the complete list of Players Awards and Winners for 2022 being as follows:

  • Men’s Metro Team (North Div 5)
  • Coach – Nick Reid
    • Golden Boot – Nathan Milford-Jones
    • Young Player of the Year – Nathan Milford-Jones
    • Players’ Player of the Year – Phil Haddock
    • Coaches Player of the Year
      • Winner – Damian Fouracre
      • Runner-Up – Adam Barbuzza
      • 2nd Runner-Up – Phil Haddock
  • Men’s Masters Team (Over 45 North B)
  • Coach – Paul Scibilia
    • Golden Boot – Joe Byrne
    • Coaches Award – Darren Freeman
    • Players’ Player of the Year – Adrian Turton
    • Coaches Player of the YearWomen’s Team
      • Winner – Adrian Turton
      • Runner-Up – Dave Brouwer
      • 2nd Runner-Up – Ross Harrison
  • Women’s Team (Metro North Div 2)
  • Coach – Paul Carter
    • Golden Boot – Briar Carter
    • Coaches Award – Kirsty Baldassar
    • Players’ Player of the Year – Briar Carter
    • Coaches Player of the YearWinner - Briar Carter
      • Winner – Briar Carter
      • Runner-Up – Emily Harrison
      • 2nd Runner-Up – Jessica Bower
  • Men’s Reserves Team (Amateur Div 2)
  • Coaches – Jonathan Griffin & Ben Hasler
    • Golden Boot – Ben Hasler
    • Players’ Player of the Year – Brendan Divilly
    • Coaches Player of the Year
      • Winner – Brendan Divilly
      • Runner-Up – Tomas Divilly
      • 2nd Runner-Up – Redar SaberMen’s First Team
  • Men’s First Team (Amateur Div 2)
  • Coaches – Billy Andrews & Wayne Culverwell
    • Golden Boot – Toni Sips & Roshann Frederic
    • Players’ Player of the Year – Ollie Taseski
    • Coaches Player of the Year
      • Winner – Jake Cosenza
      • Runners-Up – Rhys Booth
      • 2nd Runner-Up – Leo PerrottaClub Awards
  • Club Awards
    • The “Dean Shaw Clubperson of the Year” – Billy Andrews
    • PDRS Goal of Season (Men’s First Team) – Davor Pavic
    • Young Player of the Year (Men’s Squad) – Davor Pavic
    • Team of the Year 2022 – Women’s Team
  • Life Memberships
    • New – Micheal “Dicko” Dickson
      • Plaque presented to commemorate election to Life Membership as passed at the Special General Meeting of Members held at our clubrooms on Wednesday 14th September 2022.
    • Present – David Shephard (2018), Jason Earley (2019), Shane Tisdell (2019), Jonathan Griffin (2021), Christina Earley (2021)

UPCOMING DATES TO NOTE

20 November – World Cup Opening Ceremony and 1st Game (Qatar – 11:00pm)

23 November – Socceroos vs France (Qatar – 3:00am)

26 November – Socceroos vs Tunisia (Qatar – 6:00pm)

30 November – Socceroos vs Denmark (Qatar – 11:00pm)

27 November – Junior Open Training Day & Pre-Registrations (8:30am-11:45am) – BAFC

27 November – Annual General Meeting (1:00-2:00pm) – BAFC Clubrooms

10 December – Perth Glory vs Western United (Macedonia Park – 7:30pm)

STAY INFORMED

THANK YOU TO OUR CLUB SPONSORS

on-side-sports
acclaimed-catering events.jpg
Mc Loughlin butchers
CA-LOGO
signarama

YOUR BAFC COMMITTEE 

David Shephard (President), Jason Earley (Vice-President), Rose Cunningham (Treasurer), Leonie Shaw (Secretary), Christina Earley (Registrar),
Albert Ferraloro, Andy Craster, Arthur Harrison, Bill Lyon, Cheryl Tisdell, Di Louden, Jonathan Griffin,
Lauren Sands, Mike Hoy, Shane Tisdell