1.Junior history – 1999 till 2008
The first seeds of life for the current junior club occurred in late 1998 when Alex Parsons (who would later become the club's first president) attended a Swans training session at Beaton Park, Wollongong.At this event he was the invited to a meeting at the Novotel for people interested in forming a junior AFL league in the Illawarra.
Approximately 50 people attended the Novotel uprising and Alex volunteered to be President for a new club in the northern suburbs. It was at this meeting that he met John Hoyle and Steve James who agreed to assist Alex.
The first Tigers club meeting occurred at Bellambi Hotel in December 1998 with Lisa Parsons and Stan Paulson (AFL development officer) attending along with Alex, John and Steve. The positions determined at this meeting were: Alex as President, Lisa as Treasurer/Canteen Manager, John as Secretary and Steve as Registrar/Ground Manager.
There were several meetings to form an Illawarra Junior AFL Association in late 1998 and early 1999. Many of the people attending had current or previous links to senior clubs which led to a good dose of energetic political discussion about the names of the new junior clubs. There was a push from some quarters that no junior clubs have the same name as any senior club in the south coast league. There was lively discussion that the northern suburbs team be called the Bulli Pirates instead of the Northern Districts Tigers. With support from representatives from Shellharbour and Port Kembla it was agreed to start a six team competition of clubs with the following names:
- Northern Districts Tigers
- Wollongong Lions
- Port Kembla Magpies
- Figtree Kangaroos
- Shellharbour Cats
- Kiama Power
It must have seemed a daunting task starting a junior club without players, but after an energetic marketing and advertising campaign, the first year in 1999 yielded 25 players and teams in Auskick, Under 10s and Under 12s.
2.Junior history – before 1999
There was a junior Tigers club in the Northern Suburbs of Wollongong well before 1999.The Bulli-Woonona Tigers Juniors started in 1971 and included several of today’s senior players.They were part of the Illawarra Junior League with each club having one team (U/15s).Right from the start they were one of the top junior teams, losing the 1971 Grand Final narrowly to Kully Bay (Port Kembla) and then winning the premiership in 1972.
Their colours were all yellow and they had a nomadic existence, initially playing at Slacky flat inside the current trotting track at Bulli. They then moved to Cawley Park in Woonona (behind Magnolia Green) and then to Hollymount Park.The club eventually fielded teams in the U/13s, U/15s and U/17s age groups. The local junior league collapsed and the club folded in 1988.
Some senior club identities that played with the juniors or coached in this era includeGary Hynd, Lee Veech,Ricky Caldow, Steve Hill, Trevor Wilson (first coach), Warren and Bubba Poole, Alex & Bill Parsons, Ken (frog) Kervin, Andrew (chook) Osadczuk, Jeff, Noel and Peter Burton, Frank Heggarty, Bruno Pieri, Dan Sullivan and Trent Avery. .
3.Role of AFL/NSW ACT & Seniors
The AFL NSW/ACT commission have played an important part in the development of junior AFL in the Illawarra over the last 10 years.In creating the junior competition AFL NSW/ACT representatives chairedAFL NSW/ACT also provided a new set of jumpers for each team at no cost to the clubs in the first two years of the competition.
The first AFL development officer in the region was Stan Paulson, who did this job for 4 years up to the 2002 season.Stan’s enthusiasm with introducing new kids to AFL was infectious and he worked tirelessly for little financial reward to gain a foothold for AFL in the Northern suburbs schools and the Illawarra generally.Stan’s Auskick clinics were high energy events and his enthusiasm immediately transferred to the kids and encouraged them to bring their friends along.
Dave Johnson started in the Illawarra as a development officer in 2004.His organisational ability and personal drive has seen the creation of several new clubs and has led to a further surge in the number of juniors playing AFL in the region.
Current and past players of the Tigers senior club played a vital role in the creation of the junior club and have filled many coaching and committee roles, particularly in the early years.This support continues strongly today.
While not knowing it at the time, a highlight in the early years was a visit by the Kangaroos Jason McCarthy in late 1999 to one of our registration days, as part of the Kangaroos' initiative to establish a supporter base in NSW.This was a difficult time for Jason as he had been suspended for striking during the 1999 finals campaign and missed out playing in the Kangaroos 1999 premiership side.However, he was later faced with much bigger challenges when he came close to losing his life due to burns and shrapnel wounds suffered in the Bali bombings of 2002.
4.The role of women in the clubs success
We have been very fortunate that from the start the Tigers have had a very high participation rate from females in both playing and administration roles.The club owes much of its success to the contribution made by girls and women in roles such as playing, team manager, canteen manager, canteen assistant, homework centre assistants, development officer and committee members.The role played by the Tiger mums of the club in supporting their children playing AFL and assisting the club wherever needed has allowed many vital tasks to be done, often with little fanfare.
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