Dear Members,
Thank you for your continued support throughout 2026. This year has been another big step forward for St Bernadette’s Football Club with new events, new technology, new age groups and, as always, plenty of community spirit. We reached another record high in registrations, with 240 players taking part this year, up from 199 last season! It is an amazing milestone for our small but enthusiastic club and a sign that more families are choosing SBFC as their football home.
It has been fantastic to see so many first-year players in our Under 6s pull on the SBFC jersey and start their journey with the club, many of whom have graduated from our MiniRoos programme. Further up the ages, it has been just as pleasing to watch the progress of our Under 7 to Under 11 teams. Players are improving their skills weekly and, just as importantly, playing the game in the right spirit. Well done to all our young players, and to the coaches and parents supporting them!
Female Football
Female Football Week was celebrated in style once again! Our club came alive on a Thursday night with loads of activity, fun and giveaways. It was wonderful to see so many girls and families enjoying the night together. A special thank you to Hills Korean BBQ for being a fantastic sponsor and donating SBFC training kit bags to our players. The girls were thrilled! Thank you to both our other female football sponsors, Peach Business Software and Castle Hill Tavern, for your great support. You help us keep growing the game for our girls at SBFC, and we couldn’t do it without you.
Club Events
Our first ever Trivia Night was a huge success! What a great night to come together and celebrate as a community, with a packed house of almost 200 people. The bar and kitchen struggled at times to keep up with demand, a good problem to have! But everyone had a great time. Together we raised $6,250, and every dollar goes straight back into improving our club and facilities next year. Thank you to everyone who came along, donated, volunteered and helped make the night so memorable. A special thank you to Lauren Chigioni and Lauren Bond, who organised and planned the whole event. We’ll be back next time with a bigger kitchen crew!
Holiday Clinics
This year, Steve Lavis ran two holiday clinics at our club during the school holidays. Dural Music Centre have been a long-time sponsor of SBFC, and it is their kindness that allows Steve to run these programmes for our players. Both days were well attended, and we intend to keep the clinics going in the years to come. Well done to Steve Lavis, and a big thank you to Dural Music Centre for your continued support!
Technology
This year we introduced Veo cameras for the first time, and there was a real buzz around the club. Every one of our teams benefited from reviewing their games, learning from their performances and finding ways to constantly improve. It has been great to see players, coaches and parents so engaged. It’s another way we are helping our players grow, both as footballers and as teammates.
New Beginnings
Last year, we promised that SBFC would remain your home for years to come and this year we delivered. For the first time, we brought an Under 16s team into the competition. Playing in Division 1 required extra effort from the boys, parents, coach Danny Presti and manager Carole Castellan, and they rose to the challenge. We fell a little short this season but remember this was the first time you played together as a team. You should be proud of what you achieved, and we can only get better from here!
Almost Champions
Huge congratulations to our Over 35s men’s team, who played well all season and made it all the way to the semifinals! The squad has formed into a closely knit unit, and the camaraderie on and off the pitch has been fantastic to see. Many of the guys are now graduating to the Over 45s group, proof once again that passion for the game never fades. If you would like to join us, give Steve Lavis or David Pellicano a shout. Well done, gents!
Champions
Congratulations to our Under 12s Division 3 team. Grand Final Winners! It’s never easy winning a grand final, but your hard work, commitment and attitude won it. This wonderful achievement was made possible by Evan Black (Coach) and Tamara Mooney (Manager), who steered the kids all season long. And to all the players and parents, you supported each other every step of the way. Well deserved, and I hope you enjoyed the moment!
Club Person of the Year – Owen Mormul
This year, we proudly recognised Owen Mormul as Club Person of the Year. You will all have seen Owen working hard behind the scenes to keep our training sessions and matchdays running smoothly. So much of what makes a season work goes unseen, and Owen has been there every step of the way. Thank you, Owen, this recognition is very well deserved!
Plans for next year
As we continue to grow, we want to make sure our facilities grow with us. Next year, we plan to improve the shed with TV screens and whiteboards, so that when the rain comes in, teams can continue to learn and grow through classroom sessions. The Veo footage will really come into its own here! We have also grown so much that from next year, we will be looking at playing games on both Fields 1 and 2. We are in discussions with clubs and the council to work out access to field 2. That’s an exciting milestone for our club and a real reflection of how far we have come together.
Acknowledgements
Running a successful season takes a huge amount of effort from so many people. A heartfelt thank you to our volunteers, coaches, managers, referees, committee members, sponsors and, of course, our wonderful SBFC families. Your ongoing commitment to upholding our club’s values and culture is what makes St Bernadette’s such a special place to play and belong.
A special thank you also to our Duke of Ed students, who gave up their time to help with field setup and pack-up each week, your help made a real difference on matchdays.
I also want to give a big thank you to our committee members, who never stop working throughout the year. Most do this while juggling full-time jobs and busy families, and the club simply wouldn’t run without them. I want to thank Brendan Gray, who worked through Christmas and New Year to get everything ready for the new season. Spare a thought for him!
Thank you to Andrew Bond, who headed up our sponsorships this year and raised more sponsorship fees in a single season than in any previous year. Thank you to David Pellicano for his relentless efforts with field setup on training nights and his support for our coaches and managers throughout the season, keeping this well-oiled machine running. And thank you to Terry Bardaxis for taking on the referee coordinator role, getting all our referees trained and allocated every weekend for the whole season.
We have a great group of committee members, but we must think long term and bring in new members to keep up the great work at the club. Fresh faces bring fresh ideas, and that is exactly what we need to help the club keep growing. All committee roles are open, and everyone is welcome to join, however small or large your contribution may be. Please come and join us at the AGM! If you’d like to know more about the committee roles, feel free to reach out to me at president@sbfc.org.au.
If you would like to get involved — whether playing, coaching, refereeing or volunteering — you can always contact us at ask@sbfc.org.au.
I look forward to seeing you all again for another fantastic season in 2027.
Warm regards,
Sahil D’Mello
President, St Bernadette’s Football Club
October 2026
