Club history
Since 1967 North Sunshine Football Club has been providing safe recreational activity for the local community. The club was initially founded by a local priest and called Crossroads Football club. It was solely a Junior Club, fielding, in its inaugural year U/9's, U/11's and U/13's. In the ensuing years a U/15 and U/17 side was fielded, and this remained the makeup of the Club until 1979 which seen the Club fully embrace the local community with the inclusion of a senior side. This had numerous benefits for the club as a whole.
Firstly it gave a clearly defined path for its Junior participants to follow, and in so doing, gave them a reason to stay at the club, that in some instances they had called home for anything up to 10 years if they commenced as U/10's and played at least two years in each age division.
Secondly, by staying at the club they commenced with, it gave the local community the opportunity of seeing their children represent their area for many years to come.
But the unnoticed benefit, was not only the children had the opportunity to play football in their immediate locality. But it gave their parents a definite choice to make, do they stay and support the local club, or as in previous years, prior to a senior side being fielded, leave for other areas that were able to provide a continuing outlet for their children's recreational activity.
Fortunately for the community and North Sunshine Football Club, the vast majority of children, and just as important, their parents chose to stay, thus strengthening the bond between them.
In 1994 North Sunshine added to its stocks by entering a Reserve grade side in the competition. By doing so, it immediately advantaged the Community, by providing a further path for the junior players to take, to reach their potential as senior players. The effect of fielding a full complement of junior and senior sides had an almost instantaneous effect on the club, with 1986 seeing the senior side take out their divisions Grand Final.
As the years rolled on, a third senior side was fielded in 1990, and a Superules side in 1991. The new millennium saw North Sunshine Reserves win a Grand Final in 2000 and the senior side win their division Grand Final in 2003, not to mention our under 14’s winning a flag in 2008.
(North Sunshine operates as a small microcosm of the larger community; the committee is all things that you expect of a responsible organization to be. Welfare and employment services that has been on offer from the wider community in the past but we still continue to help with employment advice to psychology services. And if you think that is a bit farfetched ask senior coach Brett Kennerley about what he has to do some weeks, in regard to massaging egos to get the best out of some players. )
On a serious note though, if a player or member finds him or herself out of work, we make every effort to obtain employment for them, either through our own community network, or something as simple as providing them with a reference. If we can assist an individual to build their self esteem, either buy performing to the best of their ability on the field, or encouraging them to seek employment and contribute in a productive way, then I believe we are performing a vital role in the society we live in. Again, the community within the community assisting its members.
We are constantly forging new partnerships, an excellent example of this, is these very rooms, and how we came to occupy them in co-operation with Sunshine Cricket Club. It was always them and us, nobody bothered to talk in a practical sense with each other, continually head butting. I believe this very attitude drove the committee, at the time, to consider relocating the club to Skinner Reserve in Maldstone.
Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on your point of view, the Seniors went to Skinners, and the Juniors stayed here.
By dividing the club in this way, it split the community, the Seniors had no natural supporter base, so consequently it was only these who had a direct relationship with the players bothered to attend the matches. Don't worry that the facility was second to none and a playing surface that would have been the envy of many AFL clubs in the middle of winter. As I said Juniors stayed here at Dempster and from my point of view as a player, they could have been a different club altogether, there was very limited interaction between the two arms.
Eventually circumstances made it very clear to the committee in 1987, which I was a member of, that this situation could not continue. The obvious answer was to bring the Juniors and the Seniors back together. After a number of discussions with Sunshine Cricket Club, we struck an agreement. We would share the facility on a six month basis, including these rooms which weren't available to us prior to 1987. And further to this North Sunshine Football Club, Sunshine Cricket Club and North Sunshine Tennis Club are in the process of creating a sporting club for this facility.
So much for the history lesson. Now how does this set us apart from other clubs.
Quite simply North Sunshine has a strong awareness of the community we service. After all if we don't properly serve its needs, eventually we won't have any need to provide Australian Rules Football in this area.
If North Sunshine doesn't, then current players and potential players will go elsewhere for their recreational activities, or drift off to other clubs not directly aligned to the local community. Again little by little, we loose our sense of community. Kids don't play here, Mum and Dad don't patronize local businesses etc, etc. Ask yourself, when was the last time you chatted to your neighbors, it is obvious that on Saturdays and Sundays the community come to North Sunshine Football Club to not only watch and support but to catch up with the goings on of the previous week.
A recent survey by the League in regard to how players regarded their own ethnicity showed that North Sunshine was represented on a weekend by no less that 15 different nationalities ranging from Vietnamese to Nigerian. You may say, but that happens everywhere in Australia nowadays, that is Australia's makeup. And that is fair enough, but nobody does it better than in the western suburbs of Melbourne. But what unites all these different people is their sense of overall community and ability to come together at North Sunshine Football Club and to participate and cooperate. Again the community coming together and creating their own sense of community.
In summary, we at North Sunshine Football Club believe it is the utmost importance to be inclusive of the community. By working closely with its members, we can provide, for many years to come and environment that not only caters for the recreational requirements of its residents but by continually forging new alliances, and by seeking new opportunities we will remain relevant. When it is all boiled down it means a Community within a Community growing together.
