Dear SKOBFC Community,
With 2022 almost complete, it is with great pride we can look back at an amazing year in the proud history of our club.
It was a frenetic start to the year with a huge amount of work required to get all 10 sides on the field, especially following the interruptions of 2020 and 2021. A huge thanks to all of our volunteers
in getting things underway and for their tireless work all season.
The VAFA season launch saw one of our favourite sons in Richard “Titch” Callinan receive a prestigious VAFA Certificate of Merit Award. This is one of the highest accolades one can receive from the VAFA and testament to the incredible contribution Titch has made to our club in both men’s and women’s football across many decades.
Our historic 75 th year was marked with some memorable moments off field, the highlight of which was without doubt 500 members of the SKOBFC community gathering for our 75 th celebration dinner. This paid great homage to all SKOBBERS past and present across our various eras and was a roaring success. Huge credit to Lisa Ginies, Tim “Pup” Corrigan, Matt Murphy and John Fogarty for making this event happen.
The return of our match day lunches was another great highlight across men’s, women’s and under 19’s. TH King was also a buzz of social activity on Saturday evenings after home games, which was a great chance for our community to come together. Special mention to the incredible generosity of James Lucantonio from Buoy Pizza in Kew - who donated pizzas to the club all season. Our final social event for the year was the Presentation Night, which was well attended by players and supporters alike. Huge thanks to great SKOB sponsor and supporter, Mark O’Reilly, and his team at Platform 28 for hosting us on the night and for their loyal support all season.
Season 2022 saw new sponsors come on board in the form of Tilling Timber (SmartFrame) and McCormack Property Services . A big thank you to Glenn Tilling (current SKOB Masters player) and Brad McCormack for their support.
Thanks also to all of our other dedicated and loyal sponsors for their generous and ongoing support. Long may it continue.
The St Kevin’s Football Foundation, led by Stephen Kerr, continued its efforts to raise funds to ensure the long term financial well being of the club and we thank all that have supported this to date. I encourage all to learn more about the Foundation here - and to consider contributing if possible.
A total of 81 “Weeping Willows” members were “proud, passionate and paid up” for this season and we are very eager to grow this number for 2023. Thank you to all that joined and supported the club, especially numerous members based interstate and overseas.
Following on from the success of our inaugural Indigenous Round in 2021, we held this again across both senior men and senior women sides, which allowed us to appreciate the significant contributions made to SKOBFC by Indigenous Australians both past and present. Without doubt, another huge highlight was the holding of our inaugural Pride Round in Round 10 for all three SKOB Saints women’s sides and in Round 17 for the senior & reserve grade men’s sides. The specially designed Pride jumpers looked fantastic and a huge thank you to current SKOB Saints players - Stephanie Augustes and Grace Mills for their efforts to drive this great initiative.
On field, there were plenty of fantastic highlights. We are incredibly fortunate to have two great St Kevin’s people at the helm of our men’s and women’s senior teams in Anthony “Plugger” Lynch and Tom Purcell respectively. We were clearly the best side in Premier men’s and Premier women’s grades all year. Both took out the minor premiership and importantly, both stood tall when it counted most in the Grand Final against quality opposition to make history by becoming the first club in VAFA history to win the Premier Division in the same year for both men’s and women’s. Full credit to respective coaching groups, medical staff, volunteers and on-field leaders - men’s captain Sam Critchley and women’s co-captains Sarah Cameron & Sophie Straford.
Across the other grades, special mention also to our women’s thirds (Saints Green), coached by Richard Lewis and Mikayla Dohnt and co-captained by Remi Fiorenteni and Charley Lupson. A thrilling 2 point win in the Grand Final against a gallant West Brunswick was a great way to cap off a fine season.
Quick summary of all sides & league awards as follows:
Senior Men (Premier Division) – PREMIERS. Anthony “Plugger” Lynch awarded VAFA Men’s Coach of the Year, Tom Jok Grand Final best on ground medal winner and Luke Winter winning the VAFA Men’s Rising Star Award.
Senior Women, Saints Gold (Premier Division) – PREMIERS. Sarah Cameron league leading goalkicker and Teah Stepan Grand Final best on ground medal winner.
Men’s Reserves – 5th . Narrowly missed finals despite a strong 10-8 record. Well done to club legends, Robin Bowles and Marcus Dollman, for stepping up to coach the team this year.
Women’s Reserves, Saints Blue – Runners Up. Elise Thurman league leading goal kicker. Coach Christian Strauss will have the team hungry to go one better in 2023 after a fighting effort to go down by 9 points in the Grand Final.
Men’s Thirds – 5th . Special mention to great SKOB clubman Simon Olive stepping up at late notice to coach the side and also to captain, best & fairest and Best Clubman winner, Sam Doyle, whose efforts on & off field assisting both men’s teams, women’s teams and at club functions in general was truly inspiring.
Women’s Thirds – PREMIERS. Bridie Howard league leading goal kicker and Lucy Kehoe Grand Final best on ground.
Under 19’s Premier Division – 7 th . Special thanks to Paul Cooper for coaching and Andrew Close for helping out in a variety of roles all year.
Under 19’s Division 2 – 3 rd . Finished minor premiers and coach Harry Long will step up to coach the Premier Division side in 2023.
Under 19’s Division 4 – 9 th . Well done to coach Rory Buggle on providing a fun and enjoyable environment despite a tough year on field.
Masters (over 35’s) – 3rd . Special mention to coach Stephen O’Connor and captain Rick Caldow for their hard work.
To my Vice President - Lisa Ginies, Treasurer – Ray Short, Secretary – Gerard Gleeson Snr and the rest of the 2022 SKOBFC Committee, a very big thank you for your collective roles to ensure this year was such a success on and off field. Special mention to our outgoing committee members – Tim“Pup” Corrigan, Terry O’Halloran, Matt Murphy and Stephanie Augustes. All have contributed greatly to the club over varying periods of service and importantly all will continue to remain valuable members of our community moving forward. Thanks also to our Football Director – Paul Cooper and General Manager – Peter “Happy” Hannan for their hard work this season too.
To add three premiership cups to the cabinet and deliver on my pre-season objective of “fun, friendship and success” across the club has been an immense source of pride. The bar is now set very high for 2023 and I’ve got no doubt as a club we will rise to the occasion once again.
I wish all in the SKOBFC community a safe and relaxing Christmas & New Year break.
Patrick Mount
SKOBFC President Pat Mount President
