As the curtain fell on last year’s season, none could imagine that 2021 would be even more severe than the year before. For the Bonnet Bay Football Club, that meant the passing of a community legend and an even shorter season than 2020 had offered.

Peter “Pixie” Burgess was the heart and soul of our club, and indeed a giant in the community of both football and cricket in our region and beyond. At last years AGM, after 10 years as President, Pixie orchestrated his succession plans and ensured all was in order for our community to benefit from his leadership and work effort for years to come. Pixie passed away in February 2021, and to be honest, no one fully understood the hole his departure would leave in the Bonnet Bay area. His send off at our spiritual home at Lakewood in his legacy building, the Hanger, was a celebration to speak of for the ages.

As a sign of respect, our teams dedicated a moments silence during our first game of the season, his music was played across our fields at every opportunity, and his values have been woven into the fabric of our club forevermore, via initiatives such as the creation of Pixie’s office on the banks of the river at the bay, and his values penned on every club document and policy. He stood for the greater good, and every day asked us to put Community before Club before Team before Self. To live this way is what it means to be a Bonnet Bay Bomber, and every club member is richer for his contribution.

In this context, our 2021 season got underway, with record numbers of members signing up to join the Lime Green Army. In addition to higher playing numbers, our social groups continued to develop via non-football activities (such as the Bridge Club and Whiskey Club to name a few), and the network of bomberarderie continued to flourish despite the pandemic and eventual restrictions; this network was invaluable for so many of our members seeking connection through this crisis.

When football was eventually cut short due to lockdown, Bombers were well represented in most grades with many in contention, but only one to be crowned Premiers for the year. That team was our mighty men’s 21B team, who must be congratulated on a stella season, as must all teams who took to the field and espoused our GRIT values of Growth mindset, Resilience, Intentionality and Tenacity.

Unfortunately, our grand 40th-anniversary celebrations were put on ice this year, but we’ve rescheduled them to next year, so look out for our well loved events and productions, not to mention the added excitement of celebrating 25 years of women’s football in Bonnet Bay – a milestone that has clearly contributed to the success of our women over the years, with 2021 being no exception. As always, our women’s football went from strength to strength, with our technical director program continuing to add immense value, and our ‘women’s day at the bay’ being one of the social highlights of the calendar before lockdowns put us all back inside our homes.

Off field community activities were planned to be bigger and better than ever under our exceptional social committee crew this year, but alas we’ll need to wait another year before realising some of those arrangements that were so very near to delivery. And sadly the long awaited upgrades at our second ground at Prince Edward Park were postponed, but we can’t wait to complete these with council as soon as we can.

Next year promises to start off with a bang thanks to our generous sponsors who are delivering a new kit to all players, and helping with more social engagements off the park.

The Hangar gives us a wonderful community hub, and subject to public health restrictions, will be back up and running soon to witness some more great times at Lakewood.

Our volunteers keep delivering in key roles, and exemplify all that is good in community sport. It would be remiss of me not to say thank you to all of our coaches, managers, equipment organisers, clubhouse crew, field posse, neighbours, parents, supporters, sponsors and committee. You all give so much, and without your positive contributions, feedback, hard work and support, this club would not be so special. Your personal sacrifices are all appreciated.

Despite the pandemic, we remain healthy physically, socially, emotionally and financially, in no small part to our members who genuinely care for one another and what it means to be a Bomber. We are very fortunate to have a highly capable and motivated committee providing amazing leadership in key roles both on and off the field. Our commitment to continual improvement in each area of operations ensures we continue to build upon the amazing base that Pixie built, so we can continue to be a positive player in our community.

Going forward into next year, we will be: investing further in our coaching capabilities; passing on the savings and eventual refunds of the covid interrupted year to re-registering players; and in consultation and partnership with our generous sponsors, giving as much as we can to make sure football embraces, binds and benefits our players, following a tough 2021. We can’t wait for BBFC’s 40th-year celebrations and 25th year of women’s football at Bonnet Bay.