Comments from our President          

Hi Folks. It doesn’t seem that long ago that I was welcoming everyone to our new winter season, and now here I am writing to you again after the conclusion of all our Junior and Senior fixtures for 2023. Like they say, time flies when you’re having fun!

Our 30^th Anniversary Year has proved to be an excellent one for us on the field, with some great results across our Senior and Junior teams.  For the first time in our history, our men’s Senior team won their league and have secured promotion from Amateur Division 2 to Amateur Division 1 – a wonderful achievement for this team and the Club. Equally noteworthy was having our men’s Reserve team also topping the table (done with 3 games to spare mind you) to help deliver a great overall result for our Senior men. Congratulations and huge thanks to our dedicated coaches Wayne Culverwell & Scott Urquhart, and Jonathan Griffin, John Sbrocco & Cameron Peverley (who stepped in mid-season to assist with great effect) who all helped bring some valued silverware to the Club in 2023.

Some of our senior socials teams also fared very well in 2023 with our Metro 4 team coming 2^nd in their league and our Masters Over 45s and Women’s teams both finishing 4^th in their respective leagues.

In terms of our Junior and Miniroos teams, it was great to see a return to multiple teams across almost all of our younger age groups in our 30^th Anniversary Year, including the addition of our first junior girls’ team (U12 Girls Koalas) for our Club.  With no ladders kept for the Miniroos competitions, it was all about participation and fun for our younger kids, and plenty of both were enjoyed across all of our Miniroos age groups. With regard to our Juniors, our 13ND4 team managed to win their top 4 final competition with a memorable come from behind win in the final, whilst our 13D1 team just missed out on the top 4 on goal difference after being elevated from D2 to D1 early in the season. It was also great to have a Balla team back participating in the Bunbury Carnival for the first time in many years with our 13D1 team heading down recently and managing a very respectable 3^rd place finish in the 13Club division.

Off the field there have also been some great events held and welcome developments around the Club over the course of the year.  Our annual Quiz Night once again proved very popular and helped raise some welcome funds, as did the amazing fundraising cake stall held in early July (thanks so much to all the parents and supporters who contributed their delicious wares for sale on the day!). Our re-energised canteen (which now includes a ‘kickarse coffee machine’ which can make ‘kickarse coffees’ on those cold winter mornings!) proved very popular, and we also welcomed The Firkin, AFGRI and most recently The Alexander Bar & Bistro onboard as key sponsors throughout the year.  Huge thank yous go out to everyone involved in helping making these initiatives a reality, as without the time and energy put in by key individuals and the support of all of our valued sponsors, providing the best environment we can for our Junior and Senior players would become a much more challenging task for the Club.

We are however not quite done for 2023 with a few more key events queued up over the next couple of months, starting with our Junior Trophy Presentation Day this weekend and our Senior Awards Presentation Night the following weekend (further details below). Our Annual AGM will also follow in November, and so be sure to mark your diaries for these final Club events as we’d love to have as many of you along as possible to help us round out a very good year for the Club – and remember to keep an eye on our Facebook and Instagram pages and our Website too for other event details in due course.Facebook and Instagram pages for regular updates and information about upcoming activities, events and games (and not to forget our regularly updated Website as well).

Thank you everyone for your ongoing support of all our players, both young and old, and of our Club more generally, and I look forward to seeing you soon at one of our end of year events.

Best Regards

David Shephard (President)

Upcoming Award Days

Junior Trophy Presentation Day – just a reminder that this will be held at the Club this Sunday (15 October) from 10am–2pm. All kids will receive a trophy, sausage sizzle and a drink, plus there will be a bouncy castle, agility course and pitches set-up for small sided games. Parents/guardians can also collect their child’s team and individual photos on the day if you placed an order earlier in the season.
Senior Awards Presentation Night – a final reminder also for all of our seniors and other supporters to make sure you’ve purchased your tickets to this years’ Senior Awards Presentation Night. Ticket prices have recently been reduced to $150 each, with the big event to be held on Saturday 21 October in the Botanicals Room at the Crown. This is certain to be another great night of fine food, drink and festivities, so get your tickets ASAP to ensure you don’t miss out.

Sponsor Spotlight

Junior Trophy Presentation Day – just a reminder that this will be held at the Club this Sunday (15 October) from 10am–2pm. All kids will Ballajura AFC is very pleased to have recently welcomed The Alexander Bar and Bistro as our newest Club Sponsor. Their generous contribution ahead of the 2024 season will be recognised in due course with the addition of their logo onto one of our Metro teams’ strips. Wonderful for the Club to have confirmed this alliance with such a great venue.

Whether you’re getting together for a few drinks or a tasty dinner with friends (maybe while watching some live sport), or hosting a function for your business or a family event, The Alexander comes very highly recommended with some great reviews, and it’s just a glance up the road from the Club at 322 Alexander Drive (just next to the BP Servo). Check it out some time soon and please continue to support all of our valued Club Sponsors whenever you can.

KidSport in FY24

For those that are eligible for KidSport in FY24, hopefully you are already aware that the level of funding has recently increased from $150 to $300 per child. That will cover all or most of a junior registration fee at BAFC next season (depending on what age group your child will be in), so this is a very welcome development which will hopefully see more families able to have their kids enjoy our great game. Further details about eligibility requirements and how to apply can be found here –
https://www.dlgsc.wa.gov.au/funding/sport-and-recreation-funding/kidsport

Club Merchandise

Don’t forget to check out our online store for the purchase of club gear. Made possible through our partnership with Onside Sports Malaga, the online store gives our members access to some different merch including bags, hoodies, training tops and rain jackets. Follow this link to head to the online store – BAFC Online Store.