As the Harrow Balmoral Football Netball Club plays it'a twenty first season, any one who has participated in any role, at any level over the previous twenty seasons, can look back with pride in the past and confidence for the future.
This is a club that is as strong in 2017 as it was in those euphoric early days, thirtyone Premierships in total, nine football, twenty two netball, four senior football Premierships from ten grand finals, a remarkable five A Grade Netball Pennants from five Grand Finals. The Senior footballers have played finals in eighteen of the twenty seasons and A Grade netballers have missed just once.
As much as the playing side has been great, the strength of the club has been its ability to bring communities and people together, it's boundaries extend from Hamilton to Horsham, from the Black Range to the Border, once you come to Harrow Balmoral you are always a part of it.
The players are passionate, the atmosphere is welcoming, the crowd loud, the workers are willing, we are the mighty Southern Roos and this is our story;
In late 1996 a handful of members from the Balmoral and Douglas Harrow Miga Lake Football Clubs began a series of meetings in the strategically neutral Pigeon Ponds club rooms, to discuss a merger. The move towards amalgamation was due to the increasing difficulty of fielding competitive senior sides, finding the numbers to field a Reserves side and the dream of the possibility of a Junior competition.
Balmoral had won five games in the South West League in 1996, and DHML had just four wins in the Horsham District League that year in Senior Football, Despite having played in different Leagues since 1982, there was much common ground between the two clubs due to the Balmoral Schools.
Both clubs also had good facilities, good finances and supporter bases and a strong desire to see football continue in their areas. Its a sad fact of living in the country that populations halve every 25-30 years. When football resumed after World War II, the Central Glenelg League comprised Harrow, Pigeon Ponds, Douglas Miga Lake Rovers, Balmoral, Toolondo and Rocklands. With just two of those clubs remaining, the choice for people living in those districts and towns was whether or not they wanted the last two clubs left, DHML and Balmoral to become one.
Both clubs voted a resounding yes, and in November 1996 the formation meeting of the Harrow Balmoral Football Netball Club was held. It was decided to adopt the blue and white of North Melbourne, the Kangaroos emblem, and a toss of a coin to decide the order of the names. Tails came up and the club was called Harrow Balmoral, became known as the Southern Roos and would play in the Horsham District League.
Tom Houlhan was the founding President, Brenda Smith Secretary and Noelene King Treasurer.
The main thrust of the club was to maintain equality and to try and not disenfranchise anyone. Each of the founding clubs contributed the same amount of money to float the new club, training and home games were to be shared equally between Balmoral and Harrow, Netball was to be given equal priority and Committee positions were to shared equally between the foundation clubs.
1997 saw the appointment of Dale Hirst as Senior Football coach and Jenny Dumesny as A Grade Netball coach and the return of some prodigal sons and daughters.
The enthusiasm around the club and at training was full on, Thursday nights were like match days used to be, and supporters turned up enmass to cheer for the surging combine.
15 home and away football wins before going out in the Preliminary final in both Seniors and Reserves was a great first up football effort. The A Grade netballers went one better to seize the clubs first Premiership. Mel Youl won the A Grade league B&F and repeated that feat in 2000 as Mel Scott. Another Preliminary final in 1998 saw the club launch into its greatest year in 1999. Jamie Templeton coached football, Nano Melican, A Grade Netball and won the Association Best and Fairest. Six teams reached the Grand Final on a soggy Saturday at City Oval. A Grade netballers won 46 to 45, with the footballers trailing by five points a Ross Andrews goal sealed the Senior flag, remarkably 6-10 46 to 6-9 45. Another two netball wins made it the best ever tally of four Premierships. The 1999 side was a big experienced outfit, hefty retirements and departures saw the club rebuild over 2000 and 2001 with a great group of local youngsters to finish 3rd in both years. In 2001 the Roos fielded its first U13 side.
Brian Blood took over as coach in 2002, moulding a fine running outfit that cruised into the Grand Final as hot favourites after 10 goal victories in the qualifying and second semi finals. On an extremely hot day and a rock hard City Oval an experienced Rupanyup side outplayed the Roos to lead by 49 points at the 20 minute mark of the third quarter. In a remarkable comeback a fresher Harrow Balmoral kicked 10 goals to 1 to steal its second flag by 7 points.
The third flag could have come the next year, but on another wet day things didn't go the Roos way and they lost to Stawell Swifts by 3 points.Recruit Chris White picked up a Dellar Medal in 2003, 2004 was the year of redemption and with outstanding leadership from coach Chris White the Senior footballers got their third flag. For the only time all four football teams made Grand Final that day. The Under 13 Netball competition was added in 2004. This was the only year A Grade Netball did not reach finals.
While Senior football and A Grade Netball are the competition flagships, the full junior structure was now a reality, U13 and U16 football which became U14 and U17 in 2007, as well as the half time time U10s provided for all ages, and with the addition of C Reserve Netball in 2014 to the A,B and C Grades and the three junior grades of U13, U15 and U17 making 11 teams playing for Premiership points as well as the Under 10s football and Modified/U10 Netball.
2005 was a watershed year for Harrow Balmoral, being the only season so far in which the Roos did not make the Senior Football finals. Despite this, with the product of Under 16 Premierships in 2003 and 2004 coming through, the club signed Heath Watson as Senior Coach with Bernie and Matt Ward as Assistants for 2006,2007 and 2008, with Heath and Matt joint coaches for 2009. The Roos went from 7th to top in 2006 but lost a close Grand Final to Pimpinio by7 points. Tim Houlhan was drafted by West Coast Eagles to be Harrow Balmoral's first AFL draftee.
2007 saw Matt Ward win the Dellar Medal, and in another remarkable comeback in a Grand Final, after trailing by 25 points in the third quarter the Roos kicked 10 goals to 1 to overrun Kalkee by 41 points for flag number four.
The club got most of its teams into the finals in 2008, with the Senior team finishing on top, but going out in straight sets. The bright light of this year was the Under 17 Premiership. It was felt that this group could provide the players to underpin the clubs fortunes for the next decade.
2009 saw Harrow Balmoral continue under Watson and Ward and add some of those Under 17 Premiership players and make the Grans Final, but lose to the reigning Premiers Kalkee.
Loyal son Brent Penny took over as coach in 2010 and once again got the team to the Grand Final, but Kalkee notched their third straight flag by a record margin.
Another local Max Leeming joined Penny as joint coach in 2011 and the side built to finish on top and went into the Grand Final as raging favourites after an eighty point win in the second semi. In a high standard match Kalkee rose to the occasion and outran the Roos in the last quarter. This was the fourth of what turned out to be a record five straight Premierships for Kalkee.
After a strong nucleus being together for six years for five Grand Finals, in 2012 there were heavy departures to study, travel, work and other opportunities, and despite Leeming's best efforts as coach, the club struggled on all fronts in football. Seniors won just one game in the second half of the season to miss the finals for just the second time, and the Reserves used over seventy different players to scrape a side together each week.
The football highlight for the year was Michael Close being drafted to the Brisbane Lions.
For the first time Harrow Balmoral could see football mortality, but they were fortunate to attract experienced and professional Brent Forsyth as Senior Coach for 2013/14.
Unlike 2006 there was to be no quick fix, but slowly a game plan, leadership and performance which saw Forsyth win the League B&F, lifted the Roos back into the finals.
While Forsyth was doing his bit on the football field, President Mark Caulfield was setting the club up for the future with careful planning and financial initiatives.
In Forsyth's second season the clubs Reserves side finally broke through for its first Premiership under the coaching of Dave McClure.
Two people who would be significant contributors to the Club joined forces in 2013.
Rosemary Langley was appointed Netball Coach and outstanding player Ebonie Salter joined the club. The team performed well but could not get close to a strong Edenhope Apsley all season and in the second semi final, but after being down by eleven goals in the Grand Final came home to win in an inspiring performance.
Ebonie Salter won the League Best and Fairest in 2013 and again in 2014 when she coached the side to an unbeaten season and another Premiership. Coaching from the sidelines after having a baby in 2015, she led from the court in 2016 to get another Premiership and share the League B&F.
Remarkably the A Grade netballers 2016 win was their fifth pennant from five Grand Finals to arguably make them the clubs most successful team.
The club appointed Paul Cleaver as its first non playing Football coach in 2015, he remains as coach in 2017, the clubs twenty first season.
Cleaver has brought a combination of technology, planning, player management and recruiting to help the club win its first final for four years in 2015.
Harrow Balmoral reached the Grand Final in 2016 but lost a pulsating game to new team the Southern Mallee Giants. It was its fiftieth Senior Football final in the twenty seasons.
2016 broke more new ground as Harrow Balmoral elected Rosemary Langley as its first female President and moved to a board style of administration.
2017 sees Harrow Balmoral travelling strongly, football numbers good, Netball strong, junior numbers very healthy, loyal supporters, it is club that attracts good people, it requires good people to run it, and lots of people to work hard to support them, it's been a great ride so far and it's future is in the hands of its community.
