Broomedesliga Round One: Barbarians Raid the Shire

The Broome Soccer Association’s annual Broomedesliga futsal competition kicked off in earnest of Wednesday night, as eight teams vied for their place in the annals of history.

With several new teams and signings strutting their stuff, it was set to be an interesting night.

The undoubtable match of the round saw last season’s champions Sanga, pitted against Broome soccer stalwarts Racing Guantanamo, with both sides desperate to get off to the best start in this short season.

Raiko Kiudmaa showed just why Guantanamo moved quick to re-sign him with a hat-trick to his name, helping the Mighty Orange to a 9-3 victory over a Sanga side which struggled to maintain their excellent first half momentum into the second.

Racing Guantanamo’s brother side, Sporting Guantanamo, faced off against tough opposition in the Richard Brunger-led Royals side which promised so much last season but ultimately delivered little.

Sporting looked to be in control after the first half leading 2-0, but the Royals pushed back in the second, ultimately winning via an unfortunate own goal scored by Guantanamo captain Andy Smyth.

The match ended 4-3 to the Royals.

Newcomers Jiminies FC and Cardiff City faced off against each other in the third match of the round, and despite the scoreline of 11-1 in favour of Cardiff, the match was by no means one sided.

A spirited Jiminies side, with its focus on youth talent, held off a number of Cardiff attacks, while launching a few blistering strikes of their own.

In the final match, Hobbits FC went down 17-2 against UN Barbarians.

Hobbits experience showed in the middle of the park, with determination and grit showed by returning veteran Allan Meikle, but were unable to stem the onslaught of Barbarian attacks, led by wily South African JJ Murray.

The results of the round sees the Barbarians sit at the top on goal difference, while the Hobbits prop up the table, but with another seven rounds of football to be played before the finals series, it’s still anyone’s championship.

Women’s Broomedesliga Round 1

It was a great start to the Women’s Broomedesliga even with some initial fixture confusion. The first match of the night saw the Shamrocks up against Black Magic. Black Magic had a couple of fill ins and despite this disruption managed to be only behind by one at half time. Both teams looked the business with Kath from the Shamrocks scoring herself a double header, whilst Melena, Tiffany, and Megan all scored themselves a single for the girls in green. Black Magic’s Emma scored early on in the second half from a half way shot which gave her the hunger to chase another down. However the stability and experience of the Shamrocks meant they were the victors 5 to 2.

The following game had everything from juggling skills, handballs or elbowballs and even a lightning show. The Nancy Girls came out strong and were ready to show Troppos a thing or two and scored quickly off the foot of striker Jess. This was answered by Bec and Mani from the Troppos who showed they can kick the ball as well as they can catch it on they same courts. Alyssa from Nancy Girls was instrumental in setting up play and managed to score herself one, while Katie took home a couple after a few years away from the Broome soccer scene. New recruit for the Troppos Sasha was unstoppable in front of goals and got herself a handful of goals. Alyce also scored a single to make the Troppos overall winners 8 to 4.

It was great to see the improvement in skills and that quite a few new players all scored themselves a goal. It looks like over the next coming weeks the competition will heat up as the teams gel and players become more confident.

Trailer Launched

Cable Beach became the home of soccer on Saturday morning, as the Broome Soccer Association took to the sands for a social kick to launch their new custom-made trailer.

As members played in a friendly game, they were also able to partake in a free sausage sizzle, with the sausages cooked from the trailer's own barbeque.

The purchase of the trailer was made possible thanks to a grant from Roadwise's Community Road Safety Grants Program, which awarded the Association a $14,000 grant for the purchase of the trailer.

As part of the grant, the BSA will undertake a number of Driver Reviver trips on the Great Northern Highway throughout the year in order to encourage holidaymakers to "Stay Awake and Take a Break".

With the help of local police, BSA members will man their trailer on a stretch of the highway and provide free tea and coffee for motorists who are travelling to and from Broome.

The trailer has been specifically made to provide all the amenities the BSA needs to undertake its trips, as well as providing excellent storage for all of the Association's equipment.

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.”

Annual General Meeting

The Broome Soccer Association Annual General Meeting will be held on the 17th February at 6pm at BRAC.

Mike Doyle's President's Report is included below, as are the positions available on the committee for 2010. If you would like to nominate for any of the positions, or even just make yourself available to help as a General Committee Member, please have a chat to one of the committee members.

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President’s Report 2009

The resurrection of the Broome Soccer Association coincided with the World Cup in 2006. At that time there were fewer than 50 members, no juniors and only half a team of women. We are now on the verge of another World Cup and a lot has changed in three seasons.

In season 2009 we reached new heights; independent women’s futsal and outdoor social nights, more than 100 juniors attending the small sided games program, the first ever Football Australia Cottee’s five a side primary school gala day. Throw in another successful intra town game against the Newman women, and the closest and most competitive B Liga season we’ve had, and it clearly was a year of tremendous growth at a time when the aim was consolidation.
One of the major successes was the streamlining of the committee. All members worked extremely hard, and very well as a team to achieve yet another successful and productive year. Without Tim Gray, Monique Kelly (shortlisted for the Broome Sport volunteer of the year), Ryan Platten and Chris Stainton the successful season wouldn’t have been.

I believe 2010 needs to involve the BSA committee encouraging other members to be more involved in the direction of the association. By creating coordinators to link with the executive committee; the women’s, junior and possibly youth areas can be further developed without increasing the workload of the executive committee.

We need to ensure our juniors have pathways to succeed. To do this we need to educate our coaches and officials so the game can grow. To do this we need to continue to state our case to the state and federal bodies.

Both Football West and Football Australia has made a point of focussing on promoting the game in Indigenous communities. We should be leading the way in assisting to create some history for this region by bringing the game to all. There is no other game in the world more inclusive and Broome and the surrounds should be no different.

Another World Cup is on the doorstep so the time is perfect to further promote our game. Whilst we should aim to provide opportunities and pathways for our junior members in a professional manner, we must also be aware that we are a social association with a focus on providing an enjoyable atmosphere. Our own Racing Guantanamo team was also nominated for a Broome Sports Award. They didn’t win the Club of the year, but got the biggest laugh. Their approach is a shining example of how we can endear new people to our sport. In 2010 let’s ensure that we continue to be inclusive, welcome new people and provide an opportunity to have fun through football.

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Association Job Descriptions

President
The President sets the overall annual committee agenda (consistent with the views of members), helps the committee prioritise its goals and then keeps the committee on track by working within that overall framework.

Secretary
The Secretary is responsible for all BSA administration both jnrs
and snrs, the recording of minutes, informing committee of meetings and events and liaising with Football West and Football Australia.

Treasurer
The Treasurer is responsible for creating and maintaining the BSA budget, maintaining all BSA financial records. Tasks include banking money, keeping track of unpaid fees and liaising with FootballWest re registration etc.

Marketing
Marketing is responsible for keeping members and the public informed of all events and functions via the media and club website. The marketing person will also source merchandise opportunities.

Game Day Administrator
The Game Day Administrator is responsible for fixturing and recording general statistics including results, votes and standings and also organises additional volunteers, maintains the equipment and ensures safety procedures are in place.

Sponsorship and Social coordinator
The Sponsorship and Social coordinator is responsible for attracting sponsorship and arranging fundraising and social events aimed at bringing members together, attracting new members and raising the profile of the Association.

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.”