Suns focused on 2024 as proposal decision looms

SURF Coast Suns Football Netball Club eagerly awaits AFL Barwon’s proposed competition restructure decision, but the club says it is as well-placed as ever ahead of a new season.

The Suns have confirmed a full winter netball program for 2024, while the football program will add new age group sides to its ranks as junior growth continues to be a priority for the Torquay North-based club.

“Numbers are great. Numbers keep going up each season, and the junior ranks are just exploding,” Suns football vice-president Warrick De Vercelli said.

Netball vice-president Mel Maycock said the netball program was “looking huge again with the club excited at the prospect of entering its first Under 19s winter season team” for 2024.

De Vercelli also confirmed the Suns will be fielding its first Under 18 football side this year, completing the club’s junior pathway except for a club senior program, which AFL Barwon proposed would be viable for 2025.

De Vercelli and Maycock said it would be ideal to join the region’s senior ranks in 2025, but it is more likely to occur in 2026 at the earliest, with the club still in need of its own pavilion and a much-needed redevelopment to its netball courts to ensure up-to-code infrastructure for senior play.

Last year alone, the Suns boasted more than 415 junior footballers coupled with 180 Auskickers, while the netball program hosted more than 200 players across junior play and NetSetGo participants.

Both vice-presidents stated AFL Barwon has been in ongoing and positive communication with the Suns, since the proposal first came to light in October last year.

“AFL Barwon have been great during this process. Ed Wilson has made himself available to us, which is all we can ask for, and Sophie Allison for the netball side of things has been a big help too,” De Vercelli said.

“She has worked really hard for the clubs to get a second division Under 19 competition together this season with action to take place each week on a Tuesday night at Kardinia Park,” Maycock added.

“The outcome of the proposal is really out of our hands, but hopefully things land in the right spot for us, and it unfolds in our favour.”

If Surf Coast Suns can break into the region’s senior ranks, it would also mean its junior netball squads can move into Divisions 1 and 2 in junior age groups.

Due to the lack of a senior football team, AFL Barwon mandates junior Suns netball teams can only play as high as Division 3 in junior netball, which plays a major factor in player retention and is a “bit archaic”, according to Maycock.

While the Suns have closed netball registrations, it is still searching for coaches. Football expressions of interest can also be submitted via email to [email protected]