2022 Annual Report – Our 40th season!

This year 2022, was a year of milestones at Bonnet Bay FC (BBFC), as we celebrated our 40^th Club Anniversary on the 3^rd of September, and 25 years of Women’s Football at BBFC on the 24^th of July.

Twenty-Five years ago BBFC formed their very first all-girls team, the W14B’s. With only two girls that had played football before, they lost their first game against Lilli Pilli 7-0. In the second round, they drew with Lilli Pilli 1-1. They continued improving during the season and ended up in the grand final playing Lilli Pilli, which they managed to win 3-2! What an amazing achievement for our very first Bombers girls team, which set the foundations and framework for years of women’s contribution and success – BBFC has fielded an Open Women’s A grade (now Premier League Women) team for 19 consecutive years.

This year, our PLW team finished 3^rd. Special mention to Carla Richardson, who once again this year made sure women’s football was not only recognised equally alongside the men’s competition but promoted and celebrated strongly and proudly at BBFC.

BBFC 1997 – W14B’s Champions

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Forty years ago, our lime green army was born, with 7 junior teams representing our club. This year we had 48 teams, with 732 players (522 male players (72%) and 210 female players (28%)). Some of the highlights over the past 40 years, have included:

The SSFA Club Champions for Men’s 1 to 3 (All age) in 2008;
exceeding 600 players for the first time with 46 teams in 2011;
commencing a partnership in 2012 with HFCA Football Club in Cambodia (which includes regular visits by a BBFC team to play football and support the local community);
the construction of our new clubhouse in 2015, known as “The Hangar”;
Awarded Best Community Sports Club – Sports NSW in 2018 (presented at NSW Parliament House);
Participated in both the women’s and men’s inaugural Shire Premier League season, with PLW placing 3^rd, and Reserve Grade taking out the Premiership; and
Celebrating 25 years of women’s football in our 40^th year.

To celebrate our 40^th, we held a special day at the Bay, commencing with our junior presentation, visits and speeches by local and state politicians and football association representatives, a welcome to country and smoking ceremony, market stalls, food and beverage pop-ups, bands and entertainers and a fabulous fireworks display to close proceedings. It was a huge effort, organised by our amazing volunteers Gary Williamson, Nick Kontogiorgis, Anthony McDonald, and Andrew Collins, made all the more successful by overcoming covid delays, weather interference, and the logistical hazards of bringing so many moving parts together with such precision.

On the park, we saw great inroads from our players and coaches, who not only ensured enjoyable football but wonderful lessons, friendships and improvements all round. Special thanks to our senior Technical Director Mick McGovern and Junior Technical Director Jason Cuevas who tirelessly promote and coach our players so professionally.

From a premiership perspective, we won Reserve Grade (great work Manny Rios), O35B and AL14, and our W16Cs were awarded most improved.

BBFC 2022 – Men’s Reserve Grade Champions

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Off the park, our amazing volunteers and helpers ensured a successful season from start to finish, and our exceptional sponsors made sure our books were well stocked to deliver for members both now and into the future, including spectacular new kits and jackets this year developed by Andrew Head and his amazing team at Deploy.

Special thanks have to go out to our committee of Carla Richardson, Ian Petrovski, Gary Williamson, Mike Elliott, Marc Orklin, Kristianne Wennberg, Kristina Bennett, Clive Riseam, and our Registrar Garry Barnes. Whereas this is by no means a definitive list of our contributors, these people have once again served as the backbone and key stakeholders week in week out.

And incredible gratitude must be shown to our amazing sponsors whose generosity is second to none: Whale Logistics, National Projects Maintenance, The Prince Hotel, Club Menai, Wyze Finance, Brook Air, Fox & Wood, Ink Signs, Nugget Digital, At Your Service, Motive IT, Webtek Media and Jannali Physio.

Thank you to everyone who helped BBFC have a wonderful year. We now look forward to 2023 and another year of “Community, Club, Team and Self” for the “Greater Good”.