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HISTORY OF KIAMA SOCCER CLUB
Colours
–Navy blue shirts with light blue and white trim, navy blue shorts,
navy blue socks.
Ground - The Kiama Leisure Centre. Havilah
Place, Kiama.
Soccer
has been played in the Kiama District for many years.
The first recorded game was in 1880 and featured a game played between
Kiama and Nowra at the Kiama Showground. The
game was a hybrid of our present one and combined elements of soccer and rugby.
The Kiama Independent reported Kiama as being the victors of this first
competitive game.
The present day Kiama Soccer Club was formed in 1978 by a group of soccer enthusiast in the Kiama area. It took its nickname “The Quarriers” from the background of the Kiama township, which has a rich history of quarrying. In fact the Clubs home ground, the Kiama Leisure Centre, is an old quarry converted into playing fields. The Clubs badge features two quarrying tools, a hammer and a pick crossed. The Club originally played in a light blue and yellow strip.
In
the year of its inception the Club had only one team and filled in with a couple
of friendly games in the Shoalhaven District Competition when other clubs had
byes.
The following year, 1979, Kiama started in the Second Division of the Shoalhaven District Competition as a new Club. Kiama fielded two teams and had an average season. The Club found the travelling to games difficult as it was in the same competition as teams from as far field as Ulladulla and Batemans Bay.
In
1980 the Quarriers transferred to the very strong Illawarra Soccer Association (I.S.A.)
and remains there today.
Kiama initially played in the I.S.A. Second Division, the lowest of three Divisions. The Club took a few years to organise itself and most of the improvement to the club occurred off the playing field.
In
this period, in co-operation with the Kiama Junior Soccer Club, the Quarriers
funded and built a two storey canteen and storeroom building situated between
the main playing field and a training field.
That building was joined shortly afterwards by a dressing shed and toilet
facility built by the Kiama Council, and later on a Grandstand on the main
ground.
During the 80’s the Club did not progress much on the field as it was concentrating on organising itself properly off it. The Club was blessed with a strong committee and they worked tirelessly to ensure that the Club had a good working platform to build upon. Success on the field was rare but with no relegation from the Second Division, this did not really matter.
In the late 80’s the Club began to enjoy its first taste of success when the Reserve Grade side qualified for the semi-final series two years in a row. Kiama failed to reach the final on both occasions but progress was being made. The First Grade also made a rare appearance in the semi-final series with little success. It was apparent that the Club was changing and progressing.
A new committee began to emerge and the Quarriers set off on a different course than they had been following. The Club became ambitious and was hungry for success.
One of the most important steps that the club undertook was to affiliate with the Kiama Junior Soccer Club. Up until this stage the clubs shared a sporting complex and a town but were two separate entities and played in different playing strips. (The Juniors played in orange and blue).
As a result of the affiliation the Junior Club changed its colours to that of the Quarriers and the Senior Club began to assist the Junior club with coaching. In effect, what occurred was an amalgamation of soccer in the town that led to the forming of a Youth Policy that has proved to be remarkably successful and beneficial to both Clubs. Young soccer players in Kiama can now progress from the Under 6 team right through to the First Grade if they wish.
The committee was also very aware that it needed sponsors to assist the club to grow. Sponsors were vigorously sought and the Clubs teams began to wear their sponsor’s logos on their playing shirts and shorts. In essence, the Club became more professional off the field in an effort to improve things on it.
On the playing field things began to change as well. Young home grown players began to appear in the two squads and the average age of the teams fell. Quality Coaches were brought in and the two teams began to show a dramatic improvement. In the early 90’s the Club began to appear again in the semi finals series.
Success was not far away and in 1993 a very young Kiama First Grade team was beaten in the semi-final of the Bert Bampton Knockout Cup. The team went one better the following year in 1994 and won its first ever trophy. The Quarriers were runners-up to Dapto S.C. in the League and qualified for the semi-final play off series. The Quarriers defeated Dapto in the semi-final and went on to meet Woonona S.C. in the Second Division Grand Final before 1500 people at Brandon Park. Kiama won this game 2-0 and clinched promotion to the First Division in doing so.
That
same year Kiama’s Brian Brown was named Illawarra Soccer Association Player of
the Year and Top Goal scorer in Second Division.
In 1996 the Youth Grade, with an average age of 16, finished third in the competition and were knocked out of the prestigious K.A.S.S. Cup in the semi-final. This Youth Grade team was to prove to be the nucleus of Kiama’s First Grade side for the next five years.
The Quarriers continued to taste success without winning any more trophies but continually featured in the semi-final series of the Bert Bampton and First Division Championships.
In 1999 Kiama again reached the semi finals with the youngest First Grade squad in the entire Illawarra. For the Semi-final series Kiama fielded only four players over 21 years from a squad of 16. This team featured two players aged only 16 years and seven teenagers. The Quarriers were eventually beaten by League Champions Western Suburbs in the major semi-final but showed themselves to be a team of the future.
Quarrier’s
striker Shane Watters won the Top Goal scorer Award and First Grade Captain Dave
Jovanov was runner-up in the First Division Player of the Year Award.
Success was again only fleeting in the 2000 season and the Quarriers were eliminated in the semi-finals series by the strong Dapto team. The side was still developing and maintained its stance as the youngest team in the competition. Club Captain Dave Jovanov was again voted runner up in the Illawarra First Division Player of the Year award after a tremendous season.
At the beginning of the new millennium the Kiama Quarriers S.C. are recognised as one of the more progressive clubs in the Illawarra competitions. The Club’s players are sought after and identified as being well trained and disciplined. Soccer is very healthy in the Kiama District with the Kiama Junior Soccer Club fielding just under 40 teams and the Kiama Quarriers three grades. A Ladies team has also been formed for the new season.
The Kiama Leisure Centre is arguably one of the best venues in the Illawarra and features a main playing field and three training fields, two floodlit. The main ground has an underground sprinkler system and the playing surface is excellent all year round. The Leisure Centre Complex also features an indoor sporting complex with a pool, indoor soccer and gym facilities.
Plans are presently before the local council to build a Soccer Complex at the eastern end of the Leisure Centre. The new complex will feature a new ground, undercover seating, clubrooms and dressing sheds. The Kiama Township is a small coastal town of 13,000 on the New South Wales South Coast 35 km south of Wollongong. It is a very picturesque area popular with tourists. The town boasts many fine hotels, motels and caravan parks. The town is reliant on tourism and features many wonderful sights.
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Please email questions or comments to Naysan Sabeti: naysan9@hotkey.net.au