NSW/ACT Club of the Week: St Clair JAFC

By James Matthey

1999 was the start of something special for the St Clair Crows, who, in their 15-year existence, have been a great advertisement for AFL in western Sydney.

Playing in the Greater Western Sydney region of the Greater Sydney Junior League, the club offers boys and girls between the ages of 5-16 the chance to improve their football skills and have fun at the same time.

Despite still being a relatively young club, the Crows already have much to be proud of, including boasting a playing group of 110 youngsters across Auskick programs, Under-10s, Under-12s, Under-14s and Under-16s age groups.

St Clair has had on-field success from the very beginning, with teams making the finals in each year since their inception, and accumulating numerous Premierships in the past five years.

However, it is their off-field exploits that they are most proud of, a fact that was recognised last week when they were awarded the Swisse Quality Club Silver Level award.

The Quality Club program aims to provide all clubs with an opportunity to benchmark their operations and administration via a ranking system, and provides rewards and incentives for clubs taking part in the program.

St Clair registrar, Richard O’Keefe, said it was great that their hard work was recognised by being just the second club in NSW to be nominated for the honour.

“The accreditation as a Silver Level Quality Club and more directly as the second club in NSW to achieve this is an achievement that we are very proud of,” O’Keefe said.

“This acknowledgement is a great incentive for us all and ensures that we strive to maintain the ideals that made this club what it is today, and also allows us to reach for higher goals in the future and to maintain ourselves as an ever developing club.”

Part of the reason why the club has had so much success in such a short period is because of the work done by the people around the club who volunteer their time and effort to ensure the Crows continue to be a valuable part of the western Sydney community.

“The club’s greatest achievements are its people,” said O’Keefe.

“This club has a great history of support for our teams and this is only achieved by the great support of our people.

“These achievements are still visible today when you look at our club on game day and see past members whose children have left the club years ago helping out at the BBQ or just coming down to watch and support our current players.

“This is what has been our club’s greatest achievement, and this has originated from a club that has no history in this sport at all and has developed all our players and coaches from other sporting backgrounds into the game we now all enjoy.”

St Clair are active in getting the local community more involved in AFL, conducting clinics at local schools and encouraging kids from all cultural backgrounds and walks of life to lace up the boots.

With such an impressive list of accomplishments, St Clair could be forgiven for resting on their laurels, but that is far from the case, with the club constantly seeking areas in which they can improve.

O’Keefe said that working with other local groups was key to ensuring the long-term survival of the club.

“We wish to grow our numbers in the game and to maintain our current status as a great club, but we also wish to expand upon our infrastructure, providing better facilities to our players and the wider community,” he said.

“This has been done in conjunction with the wonderful support of Penrith Council and also our colleagues in cricket with whom we share our home ground.

“These areas are key to the development of our club and this supported by a very strong administration; at a time when smaller clubs may have to consider merging we will ensure our long term survival in an increasingly competitive area.”