Darwin Buffaloes under-10s sides play first home game for the NTFL club
Two under-10s match-ups have broken an NTFL club’s 100 year drought of home games in what is a promising sign for the future. Check out our gallery from the matches.
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The Darwin Buffaloes’ future has been preserved as their under-10s featured in the club’s first home games in more than 100 years.
Wednesday marked a special day in the club’s history as their teams took to the field at Woodroffe Oval in a big first for the NTFL foundation club.
The proud club has been around for 107 years in the Territory competition, has almost 450 members and 23 men’s premierships, but never had a place to call home.
Now it does and it was the juniors who got to mark the occasion at the base they’ve been training at for the past few months.
And in a particularly pleasing moment the club, it was able to field its first all-girls under 10s side.
President Brenda Atkinson said it was a very special occasion for the club and that the Palmerston community, as well as the Palmerston Cricket Club, which shares the ground, had embraced them.
“It’s history in the making for the club, we’ve waited a very long time to be able to call somewhere home,” Ms Atkinson said.
“The juniors have been training here for a while and have really embraced this as their home ground, for them to play the first game here is really exciting and something we’re all thrilled about.
“The Palmerston community has really embraced us, we’ve had a number of kids come across from other clubs and some who have never played footy before, which is really exciting for the club.”
Senior footy at Woodroffe is still a little way off with the oval needing to be resurfaced to suit AFL standards.
The oval will also undergo plenty of redevelopment over the next couple of years including upgrades to the club house, change rooms and the installation of 200 lux lighting.
Ms Atkinson said getting the new ground had kept the club alive and ensured it would go on instead of fighting for members against bigger clubs, which already have homes.
“When this was announced there were tears of absolute joy shed, we’ve got lifetime members who have been waiting for this,” she said.
“It’s hard to describe the feeling on that day, it was almost euphoric, but we also know we have a big challenge ahead of us establishing ourselves here for the never couple of years.
“We’ve got a fantastic committee on board that are willing to go the miles, and it’s nice to know in the next few years we will have a clubhouse and a resurfaced oval to benefit everyone.
“We’ve got ourselves a home ground, in whatever shape that looks like, it’s exciting for us and if we’re honest, it actually keeps our club alive. It’s secured our future.”
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