Senior Men's & Women's Football and Netball, Junior Boys & Girls Football, Auskick and over 35's Veterans and Masters Football. Affiliated with EFNL. We acknowledge the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation as the traditional custodians of the land in Boronia.
Do you know someone who might be interested in being part of one of the largest women’s football programs in the Eastern Football Netball League?
Boronia Hawks pre-season training begins on Tuesday 16 November at 6pm, and we’re welcoming new and experienced players to be part of our squad for the 2022 season. With two teams (Div 1 and Div 3) and a great culture now entering our fifth season, there’s no better time to join!
For more information please contact Senior Coach Scott on 0403 238 494 or Football Manager Karen on 0417 077 783.
The growth in our Club, particularly in Junior Girls’ football and Women’s netball and football teams, despite a pandemic and missing an entire season in 2020, has been phenomenal. Thank you to everyone who has worked hard to create a Club environment that attracts and retains players.
Our Gender Equity Plan was launched to the Club and we’ve been making steady progress on a number of key actions. These included balanced gender representation on our Board and Committees, issue of a Pregnancy and Sporting Participation policy, initiatives to strengthen the connection between our Men’s and Women’s football squads and the inclusion of a netball team which was open to any female regardless of age and playing experience. The plan will continue to evolve over time as key actions are completed and as the needs of the Club change.
Candyce Wright became our Club’s first female Senior Coach and we’re delighted that she’ll be returning for season 2022. Thank you to all of our wonderful Senior Women and Men and Vet’s footballers who connected with our Junior teams through coaching, right from Auskick through to our older age groups. The connection between our footballers at different stages of our football pathway is so important in creating a Club community that is supportive of our One Club culture.
During the season we were able to hold mental health training by Outside the Locker Room for our Men’s and Women’s football squads, netballers, members and volunteers. For the first time we were able to hold a session for our Junior players and parents. Following the completion of training by Mental Health Australia, our Youth Mental Health team was established and I thank those who are part of this initiative in committing to support the young people at our Club.
It has been a privilege to be on the Board, to work with wonderful people who are committed to the success of our Club and to have had a portfolio that I care deeply about. I look forward to new challenges knowing that this space is in very capable hands.
Karen Little, (outgoing) Director of Community and Inclusion
Another year filled with challenges, but the big difference was… we got to get out there and play some football and netball and watch our Hawks in action!
For some this provided an outlet and distraction, and some purpose where other areas of our lives were filled with challenges. For others this caused frustration, given the fact the year was still impacted and ultimately cut short, it tested our resilience and caused us to rethink how and why we do things. However, amongst all of these challenges, our club community again upheld it’s commitment to each other and the club by going above and beyond. In moments where we could come together and function as close to ‘normal’ as was possible, and in moments where we couldn’t, we remained supportive and positive and workedtirelessly to ensure the club continued to move forward… which we did.
Thank you to everyone across the club for their contributions on and off-field. Our Board and Committee Members, our volunteers, our coaches, trainers and game day support, our friends, family and former players, and our current players across all areas of the club. I’m continually inspired and proud of the selfless culture that is central to the way our club functions. Led over many years by the likes of Bob Henry, Ellen Johnson, Mick and Kay Kimmitt to name a few, and now continued by many more across the club. It’s part of our identity, and I’m pleased that that culture is only going from strength to strength.
There were a number of highlights across the season, which are contributing to the long-term opportunities ahead, and the completion of a number of items identified in our Strategic Plan 2020-22 with many more in progress;
In another disrupted season, we’ve still progressed a significant amount of these initiatives with 21/27 either COMPLETED (7) or IN PROGRESS (14). There are only six that are NOT COMPLETED (not started).
Our Gender Equity Plan was developed, launched and implementation has began already seeing a number of wins in a short amount of time. This project, led by Karen Little will have a huge impact on the rapid growth in our participation of women and girls in a number of areas.
We secured further support for our Netball program with new sponsors, new uniforms and new teams under the guidance of Tessa Evans, with four teams in 2021 with a greater connection to the club than ever before.
We saw a successful introduction of a cash-less system across the club including bar, canteen, merchandise operations, a mammoth task led by Kat McMahon that will set us up for greater revenue raising opportunities in the future.
The retention of sponsors and expansion of our Community Partners program led by Wayne Preston and Samantha Dunkinson has continued to provide important connections to the wider community and important financial support.
Important conversations have continued with local and state government representatives around the development of our facilities at Tormore Reserve. This advocacy has outlined that the club’s rapid growth means that the facilities we use are no longer fit for our club’s needs. Thank you to Wayne Preston, Greg Hannon and others for their extraordinary work in this space.
We’re so fortunate to have such motivated, skilled and knowledgeable people on our Board who are passionate about the club and it’s future.
To Woody and Flash, we’re so fortunate to have your strength leading our junior and senior sections of the club you do an incredible job driving us forward, leaving no stone unturned to improve the way we do things.
To Wayne and Kat your contributions to the Board in your first year were phenomenal, you’ve added such great skills and insights to the club and I can’t wait to continue working with you.
To Tanya and Dave, you’ve contributed so much in your time on the board and this year has been no different, and we head into your final year on the Board I look forward to working with you both to successful transition out of your roles and support new people transition in, over the next 12 months.
Finally, to Karen Little and Ash Johnston, who will be departing the Board after three years as Director of Community & Inclusion and one year as Director of Strategic Projects. Fundamentally the work you’ve done behind the scenes is changing the way the club is viewed internally and externally, and you’ve championed initiatives that are leading the way in not only our club, but the broader EFNL and community sport landscape. I’ve learnt so much from you both in your time on the Board and look forward to continuing to seek your guidance in the future. Our club has changed so much even over the past four years since becoming One Club, and you’ve both played a critical role in supporting this process of change. Thank you for everything and I’m so pleased, and we are so fortunate, you’ll still be active members of the Boronia community going forward.
If 2021 was our transition out of COVID, I’m so excited for what 2022 will hold for us all. We are a part of something very special at Boronia, and I definitely do not take that for granted. We are custodians of club and are working hard to celebrate our great history, drive the standards to make sure we are successful in our day-to-day operations, and think strategically and innovatively so we can prepare to leave our club in a better place for the next generation to don the brown and gold. GO HAWKA.
Scott Nicholas
Chair Person, Boronia Hawks Football Netball Club Inc.
Incredible to believe that we have now had two seasons of football that have been significantly impacted by COVID19. Our players have effectively had two seasons taken away from them which is just devastating as one’s playing career is so short-lived, to begin with. We had a number of teams that were vying for premiership glory and to have that taken away from you is just so disappointing.
This year I was super proud of our coaching staff for keeping our players connected. The work our coaches and assistant coaches do behind the scenes in ensuring the well-being of our players is where it should be, is just remarkable. I personally wish to thank every coach for checking in on our players and we are very fortunate to have you all as part of the BHFNC! All of our 2021 coaches have now been reappointed for 2022 and I look forward to you all driving success, driving growth, and driving the high standards that we require to be a successful club. Next season we have Wayne Judge as Director of Football Development on board to support all coaches with their growth and development. I warmly welcome Wayne to our club.
I want to congratulate Scott Nicholas on being awarded EFNL Senior Coach of the Year for 2021. This is a marvellous achievement and very well deserved too! Scott and his team of coaches are doing a wonderful job at growing and improving our women’s football program. The last 4 years have seen extensive growth in female participation at our club in our great game. This is no doubt driven by the quality of coaching staff we have in this area. Thank you to all and special thanks to Candyce who filled in for Ray this season. We look forward to watching you develop Candyce over the coming years.
I wish to acknowledge the winner of the Colin ‘Mick’ Kimmitt Best Clubperson award. Wayne Preston was a much-deserved winner of this prestigious award. Thank you, Wayne for your tireless efforts. Our club is a much better club due to your involvement, drive, and work ethic. I also wish to thank the Board and our Senior Committee. Our club is most fortunate to have such good quality people contributing to community sport!
This season saw the retirement of Buzz and Lmac – Matt Buzinskas and Lachie McKernan. Premiership stars, great blokes, and fine leaders of our club. You have both given so much to the BHFNC and we thank you!
To our incredible volunteers, you are all just the best! I won’t name you all but without the support of our volunteers, we just couldn’t run a club of this size. From food preparation to cleaning the bar to setting up match days to organizing functions, we are just blessed to have so many incredible people supporting our club.
This year, two club stalwarts will move off the committee. This by no means suggests they will stop supporting and working for the club. It just means they don’t have to turn up to boring meetings. To Tim Currie and Tessa Evans, thank you for your great service and advice!
As we now transition into the 2022 season, let me assure you all that we started work on season 2022 about 3 months ago. We already have our 90th birthday celebration committee organised and Greg ‘Hollywood’ Krenn has a team around him that is working on our club corporate Golf Day at the Eastwood Golf Course this year.
What is now abundantly apparent is that our club is different from what it was ten years ago. It is now a much bigger organisation and we need to manage that growth and create protocols and behaviours to ensure we don’t burn out our volunteers. This is a logistical challenge and we will strive to make this work. Expanding our volunteer network is one challenge and then managing our busy schedule and ensuring not too much is done by only a few is the next! This is every club’s challenge but we really need to get better in this area!
From a personal perspective, I have never been more motivated to make this club gain success both on and off the field next season.
How great was it to see the kids back playing footy this season! We didn’t get through the whole season but after not playing at all last year I think 12 out of the 14 games is a good result.
The club was very concerned about getting kids back into sport after 2020 and looked at options to bring back as many players as possible. We were lucky enough to have some amazing sponsors in Fletchers Real Estate Mooroolbark and The Hawks Nest Coterie Groupwho sponsored our juniors and enabled us to offer free fees for the season. We really appreciate the support of these sponsors and would like to thank them. A second initiative was a preseason event called “Sound the Siren” with an aim to reconnect our community and offer the juniors a fun, social day to meet up with team mates after a long absence. With Candyce and Stacey taking the reins, the event was a huge success. The players got out and played a scratch match and plenty of merchandise was sold.
Although some players didn’t return, we still had over 60 new players registered with an overall increase from last season of 33 players. Amazing results after a year off. We ended up fielding 9 Junior teams in Mixed U8, U9, U10, U12, U13, Girls U12, U14, Boys U14, and U15.
To our board Scott, Tanya, Dave, Karen, Wayne, Greg, Kat & Ash and senior committee thank you for your support of the last 2 years. We are so lucky to have such great people outside of the junior committee willing to help our junior program. To the junior committee, Lauren, Sam, Danny, Stacey, Candyce, Mike, Victoria and Carolyn.
To our volunteers, coaches, team managers, trainers, runners, goals umpires and time keepers – the games wouldn’t run without you giving up your time. Thanks to Ellen in the canteen, Billy marking the grounds and running the bar at awards nights and Jason who helped with anything we needed help with.
This is a new role at our Club and it is centered around ensuring our coaches across all year levels and genders receive the appropriate support, guidance, and development so that they can continue to grow and develop and give our playing groups the very best coaching available.
Wayne will also be used to strategically analyse our player lists, develop pathways for junior players, and support our Football Operations across mens and women’s programs.
Wayne comes to our Club after fulfilling a very similar role at the Heathmont Football Club over the past 5 years. A former senior coach of both Ringwood and Forest Hill and a current interleague coach of the EFNL, Wayne’s knowledge and experience will be invaluable as we strive to keep growing our Club and giving all players opportunities to play football at as high a level as possible.
Wayne will work closely with all coaches and directly report to the presidents of the junior and senior clubs.Please join us all in welcoming Wayne and his family to ‘The Hawka!’
Kristan Wood & Greg Hannon – JUNIOR and SENIOR PRESIDENTS
Scott has developed a strong Women’s Football program at Boronia over the last 4 years, growing from 10 players to today’s 70, a true testament to his leadership.
Firstly, on a sad note, I learnt today of the passing of Donna Krenn’s mother, Mary Nicol. We send our condolences to the entire Krenn family.
I thought it prudent to give you all a quick update on the senior club happenings as although our season concluded prematurely, rest assured, behind the scenes the club has been working hard to ensure we give our players every opportunity to play at their best and experience finals glory!
We have reappointed our coaches. Matthew Clark, Craig Brockley, Pierre Schumann, Greg Joseph, Scott Nicholas, Candyce Wright and RayLacey will lead our teams in their various levels. Without giving too much away, Joey was the most difficult to sign due to his demands of a 100% pay increase. But we got there in the end and Joey will once again lead our Vets to beers and wins!
Ash Johnston, our football manager has re-signed our playing list which is one hell of an achievement. Ash is an incredible asset for our club and with the support now of AndrewWright, I have no doubt the work load for Ash will reduce and Wrighty will bring a unique enthusiasm to this role and support Ash with all footy ops matters.
Ash has managed to sign Mitch Mellis. This is a huge acquisition for our club. Make no mistake, Mitch is a seriously good footballer and we now have a young list that we believe can compete for many years to come. Maintaining this list is not easy as other clubs love our younger players but they wish to stay with us as our club culture is so strong at the moment. We all know this can change quickly so we all have a responsibility to maintain and grow our positive culture. Easier said than done but we never stop trying!
Our Recruiting Committee of Matt Clark, Wayne Preston, Tim Currie, Dean Collins, Ash Johnston, Andrew Wright and Cam Mellis may not be able to pick many winners on a Saturday, but they can locate many a footballer worth talking to! Great work so far lads!!
Wayne Preston was awarded our club person of the year. It is now called the Mick Kimmitt Club Person of the Year and Wayne was a much deserved winner. We couldn’t think of a better way to recognise Mick’s 50 years of volunteer service to our club.
Our club has grown into a big club now. No longer are we just a 19’s, reserves and seniors like in my playing days. We now have two female teams and four netball teams under our banner. This growth is a sensational development for our club, but it also creates more work for our volunteers, committee and Board. I thank every volunteer for their efforts. Without you guys, we just would not have a club. Interestingly, not one person has said “no” to me in the past four years when I have asked them to manage something for the club. That support is heartfelt and so appreciated!!
You don’t need to be a brain surgeon to know the past two years has been a huge challenge for our club. Every function we planned for has been cancelled due to COVID yet bills still flow in. Our sponsors have been so loyal and generous, even when we know their businesses have struggled during these times. Past players and supporters such as Glenn Milne at Glenbrae, Ash Johnston at Bark King, Timmy Currie at Dyson Currie, Kristan Wood at Allstate Refrigeration, Brendan Lee at John Alan Betta Home Living, Adam Maloney at Pro Finish Roof Plumbing, Craig Kenny at Your Local Telecom, Knox Club,you guys have been sensational. We will also continue to support GK Travelas they have had tougher times than any business could expect! Hollywood will bounce back and we intend to help him do just that!
Robert “Bomma” Kimmitt, Leanne Rech and the Hawks Nest Coterie Group are now our largest sponsor. The Coterie is an amazing initiative that will become our club backbone for many years to come.
Leanne and Bomma will help the club project manage our clubs 90th birthday Gala Dinner next year. With David Murrihy, Karen Little, Greg “Stick” Krenn and Grant Bertram working with Bomma and Leanne, I can absolutely promise you our birthday dinner spectacular will be one hell of a night next year. I’ll keep you posted on dates when they are locked in! Spread the word on this, we are planning an amazing night!
We will be running our GOLF DAY once again in 2022. This was a huge success and we look to move to Eastwood GC next year and build on what was already a great day out for everyone. Date for this event will be posted soon.
Finally, with Scott Nicholas as Chairperson and Kristan Wood running our juniors, our club is in great hands. I have great support on our senior committee and will always appreciate more volunteers to get involved. It’s actually a real honour to be president of such a great club. Our club is full of great people and makes being involved on the club a joy!
We still have aspirations to update our club and social rooms, this is proving a real challenge but we won’t give in! We have a new net being installed shortly behind our club room goals and we intend to update our kitchen appliances and a new ice machine will be installed shortly. Lots going on as the ‘off season’, strangely, is often busier than the playing season.
