FOR the first time since its inception in 1974, Swan Hill Soccer League will be represented by five teams when the Bendigo Amateur Soccer League gets under way on Saturday.
While the senior men’s, women’s and youth boys’ teams have all played at least one game in various formats over the past fortnight, this weekend will see the under 16 boys’ and girls’ teams in action for the first time in 2024.
Soccer is fast becoming one of Australia’s fastest-growing sports at grassroots level, thanks largely to the performances of the Matildas and Socceroos at recent World Cups.
It’s a sentiment that is now being shared locally as well, with the addition of an extra junior boys’ team for the Swan Hill club this season.
It will be a proud moment for new club president Ben Muir-Howie, who has been involved with the club since 2016 and has watched the club grow from having no junior BASL teams just three seasons ago.
“The growth of the club in recent years has been extraordinary,” Muir-Howie said.
“For us to go from a having just a senior men’s and women’s team in BASL to now five teams in a matter of years is something I think we’re all very proud of.
“To have a youth team this year on the back of the under 16 boys going into the youth squad and the club still maintaining an under 16 boys’ team, as well as the under 16 girls’ side, that’s massive growth within just 12 months.
“We’d love to have another girls’ side and someday soon hopefully we will, but to have two boys’ teams shows we’re on the right path.
“Having multiple teams gives us the opportunity to have several sides playing together on the same day and create that real club atmosphere.
“It’s a real sign of the times with the growth of soccer, not just in the Swan Hill community but also within the whole state.”
As in all sporting organisations, however, with growth comes a new set of challenges, with the club requiring new uniforms for the influx of junior players, along with the travel needed to get each side to Bendigo every second week for away games.
But while some of those challenges are still a work in progress, Muir-Howie was quick to say it had been through the support of the community that the club had been able to thrive.
“We’ve been lucky enough to have KIA Swan Hill come on as a major partner this season and they’ve been instrumental in helping our club secure new uniforms for our junior players,” Muir-Howie said.
“We now have all five times in the same uniform, with the same colours and design – I think that’s more evidence of how far we’ve come as a club.
“But in terms of the challenges of growth, the next challenge for us a club will be to grow our pool of volunteers, bring new people into the club and have good processes in place so it’s not the same people doing the same work.
“Having five teams this year is just a starting point and ideally we’d like to have more teams next season and really have our Ken Harrison home games full of people and cheering on our sides.
“Grassroots is the basis of any club and we need to keep those foundations strong.
“I’d encourage anyone within our community to come down and support our club.”
It will be a big weekend for the club, with not only the season debut of the two under 16 teams but with the club also hosting a registration session between 9am and 10.30am for its Mini Roos (five- to nine year-olds) and Saturday junior competition (10-14-year-olds).
The registrations will precede the under 16 girls’ home game, with Muir-Howie also doubling as the team’s coach and looking forward to the start of the season.
“We don’t know too much about the opposition players but Spring Gully are a traditionally big club in BASL and I’m sure they’ll provide a competitive team,” Muir-Howie said.
“The under 16s are a bit different.
“I’d expect there’ll be a few more experienced girls we’ll be going up against and some of them will potentially be playing women’s at the same time as well, but we’ll be focusing on the basics and as long as we work hard as a team we’ll be competitive.”
