The Balgowlah Suns Junior AFL Club was formed in 2015, initially with 54 Auskickers with our home ground of Balgowlah Oval on Sydney Road, Balgowlah.
In 2016, our Auskick group grew to 73 and we also expanded to include two Under 9’s teams competing in the Sydney Juniors competition for the first time.
In 2017, our rapid growth continued, Auskick exceeded 100 kids and in addition to the two Under 9’s teams we added two Under 10’s and an Under 11’s boys teams as well as establishing our first Under 12 girls team and Under 15 girls (as a joint venture with Manly), we’ve finished this year with 191 kids in the club.
In July 2017, our club was awarded the ‘Highest Nett Growth’ (i.e. fastest growing club) of all clubs in the Sydney Harbour region and then in August, we received the award for the ‘Best Club’ on the North Shore.
To top off the 2017 year, 4 of our 7 teams won their age group Grand Finals, a truly fantastic result for a young club and one we are all proud of.
The 2018 season far exceeded our predictions, with 150 Auskick, and 170 juniors. Increasing our junior teams to 10 and building a strong Youth girls base of 3 teams. The U15YG almost pulled off another Grand final win!
2019 was another strong growth year for the Suns with the introduction of U14 & U16YG bringing our girl’s team count to 4 and pushing our Junior boys to 9 teams. Add to that a 135 strong Auskick and 3 U8 teams the year finished strong on registrations.
Our finals success continued in 2019 with 7 out of 8 teams making finals! Of that, 3 team (U11-1, U12-3 and U13-3 all made the grand finals). We were thrilled to have our U11-1 and U13-3 win Premierships. An awesome result for what was an incredible year!
With the ‘unprecedented’ COVID-19 year of 2020 and a delayed start to a reduced (9 week) season, we were thrilled to see our membership continue to grow through tough times. 18 teams, 5 through to finals and our U11-Div 1 bringing home the premiership banner!
2021 started off almost normal (compared to 2020), with 450 kids in the club, we started the season, but as we headed into the depths of Winter, after completing Round 8, unfortunately the footy season was again impacted by COVID-19.
Whilst we had a delayed start to season 2022, we grew to 470 kids in the club, Auskick at 111 and 22 teams across all boys and girls age groups. We celebrated our first players at the Suns to reach the 100 game milestone and 5 teams making finals, with our U18 Girls (JV with Manly) winning their Grand Final.
2023 saw a rapid growth in membership, a record for the club of 541 kids, including Auskick at 173. 9 of our 13 eligible Junior teams made finals, culminating in one team wining a Premiership, congrats to U14YG Div 2.
As 2024 fast approached, early registrations indicate this season will be the biggest ever with a new U9 Girls competition, as well as Div 1 alliances in the U15 & U17 boys age groups to ensure the club enables participation via Div 2 & Div 3 and opportunity for our elite players.
Bring on 2024!!
