By Mikayla van Loon
Since the return to a full football season after the pandemic lockdowns, Kilsyth Football Club has changed its approach to what kind of football club it wants to be and it is seeing great success.
Club president Quentin Van Veen said across all teams at Kilsyth there are multiple brothers, sisters and other family members playing side by side, something the club is really proud to have attracted.
“That’s been part of rebuilding the club to be a local community club,” he said.
“So when we made the final seven years ago, that was about doing what most footy clubs do: raise enough money, find enough good players and get them in the finals.
“Our approach now is, well let’s continue to create a place for Kilsyth kids to play footy in Kilsyth and be a true community club as opposed to just trying to win the next flag and get to first division.”
Moving forward with the community approach, Quentin said he hopes Kilsyth can be a hub for local kids to play sport and with that comes the upgrading of the current sports pavilion at Pinks Reserve.
“We’ve gone from a traditional 19s, reserves and senior men’s to now adding five more teams to that with the women’s football and the netball teams, so that puts another 60 or 70 players on the park every week,” he said.
While Quentin said Kilsyth Football Club wants to create a competitive environment, the focus is really on being a welcoming, safe space for children and families to enjoy playing sport.
“If we end up being a third division club or a second division club, then that’s good enough.
“We want to challenge the players to do their best and not accept where we’re at and challenge ourselves to be better but ultimately, at the moment, the way I see it, the way our committee sees it is that we want to be just a good club first.”
Even though the club went through a challenging period throughout the pandemic lockdowns, Quentin said the positive impact sports can have on children, particularly after such difficult years for them personally as well, it is important to rebuild the club as a place they want to be.
“It’s become even more important for people to have something they can join and be a part of.
“We talk about kids with anxiety, kids who have learning problems and having trouble at school, broken homes, marriage and divorce, all the other things that go on in people’s lives, particularly young people’s lives.
“To create a space where we can have 100 or so young people come in and have a good time, play sport, we know it is good for them to be actively involved in sport.”
This positive environment has already had an impact on the club’s success in the competition side of things as well, with Mitchell Jacobs saying with such a young list already carrying the seniors, it can only improve from here.
“It’s really exciting for the club. If we can do what we have to do today (Saturday 6 August), and next week, we should be locking ourselves into a top four spot and playing finals for the first time in seven years, which is huge for the club,” he said.
“There’s no reason we can’t go further if we make it to finals this year, but this is just the first step for the next three, four or five years.”
Kilsyth had five junior teams make finals, with six players listed in the League’s best and fairest. The senior women will also be playing finals after a successful season.
“From where we were five years ago, pre-Covid and during Covid, which were really tough years for the club for a number of reasons, where we are now it’s testament to a lot of work that we’ve been putting in into the juniors,” Mitchell said.
Kilsyth’s seniors were able to win 130 to 30 against Nunawading, placing the team fourth on the ladder and in a good position for the division four finals.
