What makes this growing Aussie Rules hub Gold Coast’s best junior football club?
A VFL grand final appearance and QAFLW double were just the beginning for this growing Aussie Rules club in 2024, now crowned Gold Coast’s best junior football club. Full story:
Sport
Don't miss out on the headlines from Sport. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Fresh off the back of a VFL grand final appearance and claiming both QAFLW Reserves and Senior titles, the Southport Sharks Australian Football Club has now been crowned Gold Coast’s best junior football club.
Having received a tremendous 17% of votes compared to runners up (9%) and third placed (two clubs each with 7%), Sharks Junior President Matt Reid said the result was all thanks to the club’s helping hands.
“I think it’s great recognition for the hard work of loads and loads of volunteers since 1961,” he said.
Southport hold the unique title of being Gold Coast’s first and oldest junior Aussie Rules club, and pride themselves on being able to pave a path for others to follow.
“We’ve always tried to lead the way and be a great family club that has a place for every single person to play at,” Reid said.
“Number one is our facilities, they are the best on the Gold Coast.
“(Our) ovals are incredible and our coaches and volunteers ... they all work their butts off to be where they are and look after the kids.
“We honestly believe we have success because we have the hardest working committee and hardest working coaches on the Gold Coast.”
Southport is also the only club in Queensland which provides a clear pathway from grassroots juniors to the VFL - Australia’s second highest level of Australian Rules.
The club recently built a Men’s Senior QFA program to bridge the existing gap between the two age groups, which along with the newly introduced Masters (35+) Women’s side, contributed to what Reid describes as a ‘one club’ mentality.
“It’s brought new life to the club ... these kids can see somewhere to be playing beyond their junior years,” he said.
“The kids idolise these guys, our VFL players, because just about every one of them has been on an AFL list.
“We’ll just keep growing, continue to do what we’re doing and keep focusing on our quality.
“We’re really excited for what the future holds and what the strength of our seniors can provide.”
Reid said the club’s goal was not just to grow the game in their own corner, instead focussing on Aussie Rules across Queensland.
“We see a responsibility to grow the game in Queensland, not just for Southport.
“As the competition gets stronger, the level of competition will get stronger and we’ll see more kids having success.
“That only comes from lifting the whole competition up and not just focusing on our own backyard.”
2nd (Silver)
Ormeau Bulldogs AFC
Meet the unassuming club that snatched up silver: Ormeau Bulldogs Australian Football Club.
While they may be far from the biggest club on the coast, President Miles Garner said Ormeau had worked tirelessly over the past few years to grow it’s juniors program - and the title of Gold Coast’s ‘runner-up’ Best Football Club is a testament to exactly that.
“For us, it shows the work we’ve done over the past few years - we’ve put an emphasis on attracting kids to play sport,” Garner said.
“It’s (because of) a lot of hard work from committee members to continue improving our club so that people want to play for Ormeau Bulldogs.”
Garner has been around the club for seven years, on the committee for three and President the past two. He’s seen the growth first-hand.
“A lot of little projects are starting to culminate in an increase of numbers,” he said.
“That comes from training our coaches, engaging our committee (and) reaching out to schools.
“We’ve had a really good growth in girl’s footy too ... promoting through schools and having ‘come and try’ days.”
The most promising sign for the Bulldogs perhaps, is achieving this growth while in competition with an array of clubs nearby - including Carrara, Pacific Pines, Beenleigh and Yarrabilba.
“I wouldn’t say we disappear up at the northern end of Gold Coast but we have a number of clubs around us so we’re always fighting for the same patch ... but we do work well with (those) clubs.
“Carrara lost a few teams so we picked up their players to make sure they could keep playing footy.
“At the end of the day, while we do want to grow our own club, we also want to make sure that AFL as a whole sport keeps growing.”
It may be that very approach to growing junior footy that gives Ormeau an edge.
So, who do they have to look up to? Who claimed gold?
While this masthead won’t reveal the winner until early next week, Ormeau have a pretty fair idea, and are confident they have all the parts to be as much of a success.
“I know the club that has come first, and I hope to be as big as (them) one day.
“But in terms of on field performance, we are as good as them.
“For the small base we’ve got, we seem to barrell pretty well with those big clubs ... and to be acknowledged across the board is a nice feather in the hat,” Garner said.
3RD (Bronze)
Nerang Bulls Rugby Union and Palm Beach Soccer
Both clubs exited the polls with 7% of the 215 votes, and Palm Beach President Mick Hanns said it’s a clear example of two and a half decades of community work paying off.
“We work very hard in the community and it’s quite a thrill for the club to be nominated ... working with the community since 1996,” he said.
“It’s a great accolade.
“The development we’ve seen come through the juniors these last few years has been built upon that.
“We’ve made a huge investment in female football on the back of the World Cup ... we had 235 girls at the club this year in that (girls) program.”
The club saw a 30% in participation in 2024, with 1059 players registered and 866 of those being juniors.
The Bulls meanwhile were recognised by Gold Coast District Rugby Union to have achieved the biggest juniors growth of the competition.
A whopping 64% growth was recorded for 2024 and the club is looking forward to seeing those numbers climb even higher in 2025.
“We historically have been a smaller club junior wise and have been doing our best to retain our numbers aswell as grow each year,” Nerang Bulls Junior coordinator Jacinta Smith said.
“We pride ourselves in being a family orientated club with a very close knit culture.
“We boast a large contingent of siblings across many age grades, as well as a large portion of junior players whose father plays in seniors.
“It creates such a bridge between junior families and the rest of our club.
“Our seniors have been extremely successful for the last 3-4 years so it’s awesome to see some recognition for our juniors and know we are heading in the right direction.”
For Palmy, the jump from 660 juniors in 2023 largely came from a push for women’s football on the back of the Matildas’ World Cup success.
Hanns proudly pointed to Matildas duo Hayley Raso and Aivi Luik, who both came through the Palm Beach juniors ranks.
That, and the club’s family values.
“Quite frankly it’s in the DNA,” Hanns said.
“Our motto is ‘our juniors become seniors’ and when they do become seniors, they give back to the juniors.
“It is one big family.
“I don’t know what it is with Palmy, but the kids just thrive on the atmosphere of the club which I know a lot of rival clubs don’t like.
“But you just can’t coach that stuff, it’s bred in them and that goes right through from juniors to seniors.”
---
Note: First and second places will be announced soon!
Former draft hopeful set for Coast return
Southport has signed a former draft hopeful looking to reignite his AFL dream after four years in the SANFL. More here.
Four codes, 100+ future stars: The top SEQ footy schoolgirls we saw in ‘24
Four code schoolgirl footy special: Here’s the top 100 cream of the crop schoolgirls we saw this season across SEQ rugby league, rugby union, the football and Aussie rules matches. FULL LIST