Every year Balmain & District Football Club present awards to our junior teams (Tiny Tigers – Under 14s). This year the award ceremonies will be held over two days: Saturday 31st August and Sunday 1st September at the Waterfront Drive Fields, Callan Park.
Please find your team name and time below.
We look forward to seeing you all there!
Our club is thrilled to announce that we are launching a new program for the U7 Girls supported by Football Australia and CommBank through the Growing Football Fund Community Grant we recently received.
This program aims to provide high quality training sessions for up to 32 (BDFC registered) girls born in 2017 or 2018 that are currently playing in our U7 Girls or Mixed teams in the 2024 Winter Season.
We invite players to register if they are keen to experience professional coaching led by Clare Shine, one of our Development Program coaches (and a former Ireland International player), and our Future Coaches Program coaches.
Day: Saturdays
Dates:
Groups: 9am (Group 1) & 10:10am (Group 2)
Venue: Waterfront Drive Sporting Ground, Callan Park
Who: Balmin DFC U7 Girls (playing in U7 Girls or Mixed Teams in 2024)
Cost: Free (grant funded by Football Australia and CommBank)
To register your interest, please complete this form:
U8 Gala Day
Our U8 Gala Day is coming up fast, where we gather the ungraded mixed and girls teams for a day of football before the Winter season begins. All ungraded teams are required to attend to allow us to assess them and submit them for grading into the most suitable competition.
Where: Leichhardt No. 3
Date: 2nd March 2024
Day: Saturday
Time: 11:30am – 5:30pm (arrival time varies)
Age Coordinators will contact team managers closer to the day to confirm arrival times and fixtures.
Future Coaches Program – Positions Available for 2024 Winter Season
We are opening our second intake of keen young women (14-19 years old) to join the Future Coaches Program for the 2024 winter season.
The objective of the program is for our club to provide a mentoring program for young women aged 14-19 interested in coaching. Coaches will be accredited through coaching courses, involved in coaching holiday camps, mentoring sessions, coaching in our development programs, and paired up to coach girls’ MiniRoos teams during the winter season.
We want to develop the next generation of coaches at our club, with the right skill set to succeed in their roles and continue to develop our players. Developing more coaches through this program year after year, will help build capacity throughout the club and improve the overall quality of the football experience for BDFC players.
Registrations to join this program for 2024 close on Monday 18th March. For more information or to register, go to: https://www.balmainfootball.com.au/future-coaches/
Team Kit Collection
It’s that time of year again to pick up your team kit bags for the winter season. We have provided 2 dates for kit bag pickup so please ensure that your team sends a nominated person to collect it.
Where: Waterfront Drive Sporting Ground
Dates: 16th & 17th March
Day: Saturday and Sunday
Time: 10am – 3pm each day
Development Program teams will have their kit bags provided to them on the first training nights of the season (12th and 13th March) at WFD. A Parent, Coach, or Manager can pick up the kit bag from our staff at the pavilion or nominate someone from the team to pick-up in time for the pre-season matches that weekend.
Player Pathways Program
Did you narrowly miss out on a spot in our Development Program? Still want to enhance your football skills? The Players Pathways Program is designed for players like you.
If you’re passionate about improving your skills and dedicated to an extra training session each week, our Pathways Program provides an excellent alternative. Join a group of like-minded players committed to their soccer journey.
Where: Waterfront Drive Sporting Ground
Start Date: 12th March 2024
Day: Tuesday/Thursday/Friday
Length: 19 Weeks
Cost: $300
SCHEDULE
U6-U7 Mixed – TUE 4:30pm – 5:30pm
U8-U10 Mixed – TUE 5:40pm – 6:40pm
U11-U13 Mixed – TUE 6:50pm – 8:00pm
U8-U10 Girls – FRI 5:40pm – 6:40pm
U11-U13 Girls – FRI 6:50pm – 8:00pm
U14-U16 Girls – THU 6:50pm – 8:00pm
For more information or to register, go to: https://www.balmainfootball.com.au/player-pathways-program/
Induction Days
We are introducing a new initiative to help prepare our members for the upcoming winter season. See below the workshops we are running on each day which is specific for the age groups.
Where: Waterfront Drive Sporting Ground (all sessions)
Session 1 (Coaches/Managers/Parents)
Date: Saturday 23rd March 2024
Time: 1:00pm – 2:30pm (2 x 45 min sessions)
Who: U8-U12 Mixed & Girls Teams.
For all coaches, managers and parents. This day is not for players.
What:
Session 2 (Coaches/Managers/Players)
Date: Sunday 24th March 2024
Time: 3:00pm – 4:30pm (2 x 45 min sessions)
Who:
Coaches, Managers, and U13-U15 Players All Welcome. This day is not aimed at parents.
What:
To attend the induction days, please register using the links below:
Saturday 23 March – https://form.jotform.com/233527148165862
Sunday 24 March – https://form.jotform.com/233530323223846
Whilst many clubs that we compete with currently have access to an all-weather playing surface, Balmain & District Football Club (BDFC), despite being the largest community football club in the country, has been unable to obtain access to such a facility. The recently completed all-weather fields at Rudd Park, Strathfield Park and Tempe Reserve show what can be offered by such facilities. Due to their hard-wearing nature, all-weather fields enable community use to be optimised whilst maintaining a high-quality playing surface.
Members may be aware that our Club had been hoping to secure access for our members to an all-weather playing field at the recently opened Rozelle Parklands. However, we were informed last year that the parklands delivered by the State Government will not include an all-weather playing surface. Instead, as announced by Mayor Darcy Byrne and NSW Minister for Roads, John Graham, the State Government is making a $20 million budget available to Inner West Council for it to identify and deliver an all-weather playing field elsewhere in our area, as well as providing other local facilities.
As a result, Inner West Council has resolved to consider four existing playing fields for conversion to an all-weather playing surface and is currently seeking community feedback on which field to select. The four fields under consideration include our home playing fields at Waterfront Drive in Callan Park and at Easton Park. The other two fields being considered are at Balmain Road in Callan Park and Leichhardt No.2 near the Leichhardt Swimming Pool.
The BDFC Club Executive has unanimously resolved to advocate for one of our two playing fields at Waterfront Drive to be selected for conversion to an all-weather surface. This is based on the obvious benefits of providing an improved playing surface for all year-round use, alongside the building for which funding has now been secured to be renovated and converted into the new BDFC clubhouse and community facility.
Choosing to provide the new surface at Waterfront Drive would enable users to draw on the new facilities being provided at the clubhouse – which include toilets and changerooms – and the existing 200-lux floodlighting, and would not impact on any nearby residents.
Our club is keen to pursue new hybrid grass technology for the all-weather surface, delivering a modern mixture of grass and manufactured materials, drawing on the great advancements that have been made in the development of all-weather playing surfaces.
We are strongly advocating to Inner West Council to select the Waterfront Drive field for all-weather use and, in doing so, provide improved facilities for our 3,000+ members, many of whom live on and around the WestConnex tunnel facility and have lived through the impacts of its construction over the last few years.
As BDFC members will be aware, our Club has been advocating to Inner West Council to provide more fields and improved playing surfaces for decades; this new funding is a great opportunity for the Council to meet the needs of the local sporing community.
Examples of the recent installations at Rudd Park and Strathfield are below.
Registrations to attend the trials for the 2025 Men’s (BBC) and Women’s (GMT) teams are now open. Both teams play in the Football Canterbury Premier Divisions during the winter football season. We are seeking players who want to join our club and represent the orange and black in 2025.
Trials are held at the end of November and the start of December at Balmain Road Sporting Ground. See the graphics for more details.
Players must register via the online form to attend:
Commitment for the season:
The objective of the Future Coaches program is for our club to provide a mentoring program for young girls and women aged 14-19 interested in coaching. Coaches will be accredited through coaching courses, involved in coaching holiday camps, mentoring sessions, coaching in our development programs, and paired up to coach girls’ MiniRoos teams during the winter season. The club will provide mentors to lead the development of these coaches.
We want to develop the next generation of coaches at our club, with the right skill set to succeed in their roles and continue to develop our players. Developing more coaches through this program year after year, will help build capacity throughout the club and improve the overall quality of the football experience for BDFC players.
For more details, and to register for the program, please go to our Future Coaches page.
All-Weather Field at Rozelle Parklands
At Balmain & District Football Club, we understand the importance of having access to quality sporting facilities. Unfortunately, our club and the wider sporting community are facing a critical shortage of playing spaces. That’s why we’re advocating for the development of sporting facilities at Rozelle Parklands, including an all-weather playing field.
Last season, our club lost over 1,350 hours of playing and training time due to ground closures and washouts. The shortage of local fields is a growing issue that affects not only our club but also the wider community of local players. The existing fields are overused. As our community grows, so will the depth of this problem.
We believe that the Rozelle Railyards development project is a once-in-a-generation opportunity for us to secure an all-weather playing field in the heartland of our membership. We have strongly advocated for vital sporting infrastructure at Rozelle Parklands, and we believe that the provision of an all-weather field with priority, year-round access for our members is crucial.
As the NSW state election approaches, we have asked the candidates for the seat of Balmain to commit to three important points:
We support the use of hybrid grass technology over traditional synthetic surfaces for the all-weather field. The technology and materials for all-weather fields are advancing all the time, and we believe an all-weather football field at Rozelle Parklands may be the last opportunity for our club and our community to secure the year-round field we so desperately need.
We urge all our members to read and share the responses from the candidates. Let’s continue to advocate for quality sporting facilities for our community.
Read our letter and the response from each candidate below:
20 July 2022 marked one year until our sport takes centre stage in Australia and New Zealand with the FIFA Women’s World Cup. With 1001 girls and women registered to play for Balmain DFC this year, we truly cannot wait for the rest of the country to see and learn what we already know – women’s football is awesome!
The tournament will take place between the 20th of July and 20th of August 2023, with games played across various cities, states, and stadiums. For the first time ever, the tournament will include 32 nations as they compete to be named the world’s greatest International Women’s Football Team.
Qualified Nations
Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, China, Philippines, Vietnam, Sweden, Spain, France, Denmark, United States, Canada, Costa Rica, Jamaica, Zambia, Morocco, Nigeria, South Africa
Venues
Brisbane Stadium – Brisbane, Australia
Dunedin Stadium – Dunedin, New Zealand
Eden Park – Auckland, New Zealand
Hindmarsh Stadium – Adelaide, Australia
Melbourne Rectangular Stadium – Melbourne, Australia
Perth Rectangular Stadium – Perth, Australia
Stadium Australia – Adelaide, Australia
Sydney Football Stadium – Sydney, Australia
Waikato Stadium – Hamilton, New Zealand
Wellington Original Stadium – Wellington, New Zealand
Watch Some Highlights!
FIFA Women’s World Cup Goals | All-Time Top-10s
FIFA Women’s World Cup Moments | All-Time Top-10s
IT was the sound of bombs striking targets 10km away from his village in Mariupol early one morning that alerted Aleks Prykhno the war with Russia had started. Within days his city was in near ruins and he had some life-changing decisions to make – and make in a hurry.
“We lived 10km from the combat line and when the shelling began we learned about the beginning of the war,” Aleks told Inside Back through an interpreter. “The next day, residential areas were shelled and bombed. There was no electricity, water or gas and civilians began to die.
“There were shortages of food and it became more and more difficult to buy food. It became dangerous to move around the city.”
Living with his wife and 84-year-old wheelchair-bound mother, Aleks realised survival was only possible by fleeing the war zone as quickly as possible. The trio drove across Ukraine from east to west in their Kia, arriving in Warsaw and then flying to Sydney to be reunited with their son, who has been living and working in Australia for five years, daughter-in-law and two grandchildren.
The Australian government offered Ukraine’s war refugees sanctuary, for which the Prykhno family is most grateful for.
But it’s the inner west’s football community, led by Balmain FC, that has been the real pillar throughout this harrowing time. Aleks and the Tigers struck up a friendship in 2015 when he played against their 45s and over team in the final of the European Masters Games in Nice.
The bond grew stronger four years later at the 2019 European Masters Games in Torino, with Balmain inviting the accomplished goal-keeper to stand between the sticks as they went on to win the gold medal in the 50+ age group.
When the Tigers heard Ukraine was under attack, they contacted Aleks to check on his family’s wellbeing, offering them whatever support they could. Since the Prykhnos’ arrival in Sydney, the club has organised meals, work, transport and financial assistance. And they picked up a quality goal-keeper in return. Aleks, who saved a penalty in his second game, is helping the Tigers’ over-50s side work their way up the table in the Canterbury District competition.
“Football is my life and always has been. It is on the same level as work and friends,” Aleks said. “Many thanks to the Balmain team who supported and sympathised for me and my family during the difficult days for us, when we were still in Mariupol. Playing football here helps to distract from worries and negative emotions for a while.”
Balmain FC treasurer – and Aleks’ teammate – Keith Irving said: “Whilst it is a small thing against the backdrop of conflict in his country, as a community club we are delighted to be able to offer him a small escape from the worries he undoubtedly has.”
But the war is never too far from Aleks’ thoughts. He said: “My rage is still hard to imagine. I try to support my mother and wife and be of service to my family in Sydney, but I really miss my country.”
Story written by Adam Lucius for The Inner West Review
ABC Radio Interview
Listen to Balmain DFC Treasurer, Keith Irving, speak to James Valentine on ABC 702 about Aleks journey: www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_SHsEHAHrU
Want to join Sydney’s biggest community Football Club?
Grading for our 2025 junior (U8 – U16) Development Program teams will be taking place from 17 to 26 November 2024. Sessions will be held at Lambert Park (Leichhardt) and Waterfront Sporting Fields (Callan Park).
To learn more about playing in a Development Program team – and to register for grading – head here.
To check what time to attend, please check the schedule here.
Registrations to attend grading trials close at 9pm on Monday 11 November.