The Broome Soccer Association's Driver Reviver Trailer is Ready

The Broome Soccer Association is set to replace grass with bitumen to promote a valuable road safety message thanks to a $14,000 grant from Roadwise.

The BSA has purchased a new Driver Reviver Trailer and will head 150 km south out of town to encourage drivers to Stay Awake and Take a Break. Association members will join with police and roadwise to provide complimentary tea, coffee and biscuits to ensure drivers travelling to and from Broome enjoy a short break and arrive at their destination safely.

Currently there is no driver reviver program in Broome, yet the town has over 180,000 visitors to the region each year. Many of these people travel the long distances by road as self drive holidays. Fatigue is the silent killer on the roads. It could be responsible for up to 30 percent of deaths and a bigger percentage of serious injury crashes, leaving many people in wheelchairs or worse for the rest of their lives. BSA will promote the message of fatigue on long roads amongst their rapidly growing membership, and will embark on the driver reviver adventure twice a year.

The grant has seen some terrific community support with local businesses providing discounted services. To celebrate the arrival of the new trailer the BSA will host an official launch on Saturday the 20th of February from 8am at Gantheaume Point. Everyone is welcome to head down for a beach soccer kick and for a gold coin donation can grab a sausage cooked straight from the trailer's own bbq.

BSA Treasurer Tim Gray said the BSA was the first sporting club in Broome to undertake such a project.

“Getting a trailer like this enables us to store all our equipment in one safe place and also do our bit for the community,” he said. “The Driver Reviver itself is not only a great community service to support, but it gives us an opportunity to promote our sport and bring our members together over a weekend to socialise and of course play some soccer.”

Broomedesliga 2010

The BSA indoor soccer competition will be starting on February the 3rd at the BRAC stadium. There will be a couple of weeks of scratch matches before the competition begins. There will be a separate men’s and women’s competition. Games kick off at 6pm. Indoor soccer or Futsal is a great way for beginners to get into the game as well as for the more experienced. How could these two be wrong????

2009 a season to remember

Just like to take the opportunity to thank everyone for making 2009 such a cracker. It has been fun. Pure and Simple.

In three years we have taken the game from 20 or so people having a casual kick to approx 200 members. It wouldn't be possible without your contribution. So cheers.

2009 saw us develop the women's game, confirm the popularity of the juniors and the potential to expand into youth football. We had five outdoor teams, ten futsal teams, a four team women's futsal competition, women's representative team, and most importantly 130 juniors participating in small sided games. For the first time the international st patricks day extravaganza involved - god forbid - a footy team. There was even a beach football game with Jimeoin. 

Yep 2009 was supposed to be a year of consolidation and we still ended up with three nominations in the broome sports awards!

We didn't host Derby, or an indoor world cup, as we have done in the past. We simply didn't have the capacity to run them. They could be resurrected in 2010. With the world cup set to play out again it is already looking like a big year. How big will depend on who is willing to jump on our bandwagon and lend a hand. 

In 2010 Football Australia will bring their cottees five a side program to the schools as part of our promotion. More links with the school will provide greater opportunity to promote our sport.

With many children moving into the youth age groups there is great potential to expand our junior programs. This expansion could also be developed into communities such as Bidyadanga and Lombadina. Both communities showed an interest in working with us already this year. Again we didn't have the capacity to run with it. Football Australia's Indigenous football festival is the perfect incentive to encourage communities to get involved. Having a girl and boy representative in the WA team would be a great thing for this region.

The girls in particular could benefit from the expansion of our women's competition. Already the amount of enthusiasm for developing a stand alone competition will ensure a women's coordinator will be included on the committee next year. The fact our game can be played by both sexes is a huge strength and the potential to give the game to the regions girls and women is enormous. There are very few team sports for women in this region and with a Perth Glory women's team newly established our local girls can have something to dream of. Why not?

There has also been interest from the Big Issue's homeless soccer program. They are keen to work with our association to provide opportunities for marginalised groups. There is a program in Port Hedland about to start and indeed greater links with our southern neighbour has already been talked about this year. In 2010 if Port Hedland were included in our representative games we would be on our way to a north west championships.

Yep 2010 is shaping up to be a big year. Our fourth since we resurrected the association. In these short few years i have personally been amazed at what can be achieved when good people work together for a common cause. Along the way there has been some great friendships established, plenty of memorable social events, and a couple of kids from cable beach primary school with my autograph on their school bag! By providing opportunities for our children to participate we inadvertently become role models. Personally i have found great satisfaction in this. It inspires me to want to develop our association so that it continues to bring all ages and walks of life together in the name of football.

We are all part of this association together. Together we can take our game wherever we want. It's just a matter of us all making a contribution where we can. So have a think about what you might be able to do to keep us moving forward. What can you do to ensure we continue to enjoy ourselves?

Watching 2009 unfold in such a fantastic way has been unbelievably rewarding. We've had some fun. I look forward to 2010 and working to ensure those experiences can be enhanced and new friendships developed. This is after all what it is all about. 

Thanks again for 2009. Happy holidays and see you indoors in February.

Womens Outdoor 2009

This was supposed to be in the last post - but my computer is nasty, its never the user

Competition "Tough" for the Womens last game

The women's outdoor season finished with some fierce competition last Wednesday. Unfortunately just like the controversy surrounding the BLiga, the ref for the game needs to be questioned. Misplacing of the game card, blaming it on holiday brain, means that for 2010 some things need to change. What the ref can remember is that the game was so intense that neither team had managed to score until just before half time, showing just how impressive the level the women have reached this season in the game. All the women who have played in the outdoor season are absolute champions, and thanks for being part of it, washing team shirts etc and for the all the fun and laughs! I look forward to celebrating 2009 at the windup this Saturday night, a few social kicks on the beach, and the indoor season starting up in Feb 2010.

B-Liga Tenth Round Summary - Pearl Coast Pirates Champions!

Pearl Coast Pirates formally claimed the Broome Soccer Association B-Liga title on Wednesday night, after Hagan’s Heroes faltered against Broome City.

The Pirates had started the season strong, relying on game-changing performances by Gareth Jones and Phil Sheridan to propel them up the table, but after losing the two playmakers to interstate teams, struggled to perform late in the season.

Only a win against NDFC last week was enough to give the Pirates the points to force the issue at the top of the table.

This title win now makes the men in black Broome’s most successful B-Liga side, with two championships in three years.

Perennial runners-up Hagan’s Heroes had the impossible task of trying to beat Broome City by a margin of at least 21 goals to try and depose the Pirates at the top, but stuttered against the Blues who won the match 7-4.

With talismanic Heroes midfielder Mike Doyle lost to injury, the Greens were always going to struggle, although captain Chris Stainton tried manfully to push his side into a higher gear.

In the other match of the round, cellar-dwellers NDFC and Racing Guantanamo AFC went head-to-head in a match that would see the loser claim the wooden spoon.

The score see-sawed throughout, with one side taking the lead and then the other in an exciting flowing game of football.

Just after half-time, young Jon Falconer managed to score what was possibly the greatest ever B-Liga goal, with a sizzling shot just under half-way that flew past goalkeeper Jon Gallichan and buried itself in the top-left corner.

That goal however was not to keep NDFC out of the game, when Nicky Anear capitalised on some soft Guantanamo defending to put his side in front again.

Controversy abounded late in the second half, when referee Richard Brunger waved play-on after a blatant NDFC handball, resulting in an NDFC goal.

Despite protests from several Guantanamo players, including supporters on the sidelines, Brunger refused to change his call, marking one of the most shocking decisions since the Thierry Henry handball that put Ireland out of the World Cup.

Indeed, Brunger was keen to stamp his authority on the game, calling numerous soft fouls and even a penalty in what was turning into a niggly affair.

With NDFC ahead by one goal, Guantanamo again pushed forward in numbers, but were unable to break their stubborn defence, resulting in the match ending 5-4.

This was the fourth match in a row that Guantanamo had lost by one goal scored in the last five minutes, and condemned them to finish bottom of the table for the second time in three years.

Captain Andy Smyth will have his work cut-out to turn the Mighty Orange into title-challengers.

With the B-Liga now over for the 2009 season, the Broome Soccer Association will take a recess and kick off again next year in early February with the indoor Broomedesliga futsal competition.

B-Liga Ninth Round Summary - Pirates Champions?

Only a miracle scoreline next week will prevent Pearl Coast Pirates from picking up their second Broome Soccer Association B-Liga title in three years.

The men in black have capitalised on a superb early run to survive a late drop in form to go three points clear of rivals Hagan’s Heroes.

A Pirates goal difference of +20 means that Hagan’s will need to see off Broome City next week by a margin of 21 goals.

The men in black managed to see off NDFC 3-0 last week with Ken Goatley netting a hattrick to put the Pirates in their unassailable lead at the top of the table.

In the other match of the round, a stubborn Racing Guantanamo came up against Broome City, who were in a jubilant mood after seeing off Pearl Coast Pirates the week before.

Guantanamo were on a run of four defeats in a row, and were eager to break their duck against the Blues.

Irishman Joe Tighe was again the steadying hand at the heart of the Guantanamo defence as the Mighty Orange soaked up the pressure and hit City on the break.

Some deft touches by Chris Hingston and Ben Jones served their side well, but the killer blow was missing at the end.

As City struggled to get anything out of the game, Guantanamo came forward in greater numbers as they were desperate to get something out of the game.

Disaster struck with five minutes to go, as a momentary lapse in defence saw Broome City’s Jamie Lane thunder a shot past Orange goalkeeper Andy Chapman to get his side in front.

Guantanamo again pushed to get numbers forward, but were thwarted by a City team who got everyone behind the ball in the final few moments, resulting in the Mighty Orange going down to their fifth loss in a row.

Next week sees Hagan’s Heroes attempt to do the impossible against City, while Guantanamo travel to face NDFC, the loser of which will finish bottom of the table.