| |
The Golden Grove Football Club, known as the Kookaburra’s is a young club with very high expectations both on and off the field. The club is based at the Harpers Field Oval, which is situated in on One Tree Hill Road in the Northern Suburbs of Adelaide. The club is a member of both the SAAFL and NEMJFA. To date the club has enjoyed limited success at senior level but has a very strong junior development program.
The Golden Grove Football Club was founded in 1995. At this time we were able to field a number of junior sides, which played in the then North Adelaide Junior Football competition. Although Greenwith Oval was then the home ground a number of games were played at Hargraves Oval. After two positive years a number of committee members sent a proposal to the SAAFL outlining the clubs intention to set up a senior club. Senior football commenced in 1997.
The club was entered into Division 7 of the SAAFL competition and played its first full season at senior level in 1997. The club gained promotion in its first season and remained in Division 6 until its Premiership season in 2003. Although the club played in Division 6 for 5 years without success at A Grade level the B Grade was a very strong force in the Division 6 Reserves competition. This led to a number of Finals appearances and was capped with a Premiership in 2001 and a Grand Final appearance in 2004 in the Division 5 Reserves competition. The introduction of a C Grade in 1998 was proof that the club was growing and the side consolidated its position in the Division 9 North competition very quickly. Finals appearances in 2005 and 2006 have given the club the depth it requires to set a base for coaches to develop. After three seasons in Division 5 the club had a very average season in 2006, which saw it finishing in 15th place and subsequently relegated to Division 6. Over the close season the committee have worked diligently to employ a new senior coach and it was announced recently that Ashley Mitchell a proven A Grade coach would lead the club into the 2007 season and beyond. The committee has drafted a very workable 5-year plan and everyone is looking forward to a very successful future.
The junior development program has grown over our ten years and the club is now a very strong force within the North Eastern Metropolitan Junior Football Association (NEMJFA). Junior football is played on a Sunday although the NEMJFA are now programming night football on a Friday evening. The club offers junior football from Auskick to Under 6 levels and then from Under 8 to Under 16 level. Numbers have increased over the ten years, which has consequently led to the number of teams the club fields every Sunday. In the season 2006 the club ran 17 junior sides with a membership of around 400 children making up these teams. Parents and volunteers coach the teams and all coaches are qualified to AFL Level 1 standard. The club philosophy is for children to enjoy themselves while learning the skills of Australian Rules football. It is the clubs policy that all children will play at least 3 quarters of football in grades Under 6 to Under 10 and coaches are instructed to make sure players are rotated through the various positions. In the older age groups the teams play for premiership points and the play on full size ovals. The quarters are increased in time and players are guaranteed at least of half of football each week. When players reach Under 13 level the SANFL clubs request the club to send out three players from the various age levels to try out for their development squads. The Golden Grove Football Club services North Adelaide, Norwood, Centrals and Port Adelaide and this led to 15 of the Under 15 squad playing in this years Smart Play cup
In 2004 the club committee setup a Senior Colts policy. This policy was set up to assist the development of Under 14 to Under 16 players in their quest to play football at their highest level and ready them for senior football. This program has certainly worked with our Under 16 sides over the last two years taking out the Under 16 NEMJFA premiership.
The 2006 season was the best and most successful the Golden Grove Club have enjoyed in its short history. The club played off in Grand Finals in the NEMJFA Under 12 to Under 16 competitions. The club can also boast that a number of players reached Under 17 and Under 19 level with their respective SANFL clubs and also that Shane Edwards and Mathew Down both played league football at North Adelaide.
Off the field the club has worked very close with the Tea Tree Gully Council with the development of our off field facilities. Councilor Kevin Knight was invited to attend an A Grade game in 2001 and he could not believe the facilities the club was trying to operate from. He made it his business to work with the club committee in developing the facilities at Greenwith Oval and this led to a first class changing facility and a canteen, along with a superior playing surface on the Greenwith oval. It was very apparent that the club needed a home ground with a clubhouse and Councilor Knight once again worked with the then President, Adrian Case, in developing the old recycling depot on One Tree Hill Road. The new oval was completed in 2004 with the first game being scheduled for April 2005 against Ingle Farm. A competition was held by Tea Tree Gully Council to name the oval. A young boy by the name of Andrew Beard won the competition when he suggested it could be named after the Harper brothers, two local residents who lost their lives in the First World War fighting in the Imperial Forces in France. The Mayor of Tea Tree Gully Mrs. Lesley Purdom officially opened the ground on April 2nd prior to the Ingle Farm game.
Although the playing surface was first class and has been branded second only to the Adelaide Oval, training was always going to be a problem without floodlights. The club applied for grants through Sports and Recreation Department of the State Government and we were awarded $50,000 towards the cost. Following the visit to the club by the Prime Minister, RT Hon John Howard MP, and the Federal Government through local member Trish Draper MP also allocated $30,000 from the regional development department. This funding was backed up with money allocated by the Tea Tree Gully Council, saw four 25-meter light towers erected on the Harpers Field site. These lights were fitted in readiness for night football and the club celebrated the official switch on with the First round Division 6 game in 2006 against the Elizabeth club. State Minister Jennifer Rankine a long time supported of the Golden Grove club officially switched on the lights.
The committee of the club is now working very closely with Tea Tree Gully Council and the federal government to secure a substantial grant to start the development of community clubrooms on the Harpers Field site. These club rooms will be used by a number of sporting and social groups within the Tea Tree Gully area and will also give the Golden Grove Football Club a place they can call home. Future developments also include a second oval on the Harpers Field site.
Until the clubhouse is built the club lease a small building on Crouch Road that has been converted into a make shift bar. Although the building does not have the appeal of a clubhouse it gives the club somewhere to hold its after match awards presentation and small social functions.
The club has come a long way in its first ten years and as we move into our second decade we are all very positive and are looking forward to success both on and off the field.
Ian Graham
President
Golden Grove Football Club
|
| |
|---|

