A meeting over a beer resurrected a junior footy club that has already drawn almost 100 players and promises to go from strength to strength.
Initially conceived before Covid, the Sharks were created as a the region’s only all-girls junior club and planned to field an under-18 side.
Action at training. Picture: Alan Barber
But Covid canned those plans, until parents from Drysdale and Portarlington football clubs met for a pint and resurrected the club.
Sharks president Glenn Smethurst said the reinvigorated outfit then approached Leopold and Queenscliff, with the four clubs agreeing to send female players to the Sharks.
Players are registered with their home clubs and then permitted to play for the Peninsula, with the club fielding one team in the under-12s, two in under-14 and two under-16 sides this year, with 95 players in the jumper.
Smethurst said the girls initially joined training and stuck in groups with friends from their original clubs before coming together.
“We weren’t sure on how the girls would gel,” he said.
“Once we finally played a game they all just came together. As soon as the season got underway and they played a game, it was like they were one.”
The club grew rapidly after being restarted. Picture: Alan Barber
Some players were initially saddened they couldn’t continue to wear the colours of their home club but they have learned to love the Sharks just as much.
“Some of them were disappointed because they wanted to play at their home clubs and we said ‘this is the best chance for you to continue to play footy’,” Smethurst said.
Dubbed “a compete unknown” before the season began by Smethurst, the Sharks are now putting no limit on how many teams they can field.
With some players ageing out of under-16s at the end of this year, they are hoping to recruit more numbers to field an under-19 side in 2024.
The keen Sharks. Picture: Alan Barber
“We have said from the start it is a bit like Field of Dreams, if we build it they will come,” Smethurst said.
“That is what we are aiming for and we know if the girls come we will do what we have to do to give them a game.”
Any players interested in signing up can contact the Peninsula Sharks through social media.
The Sharks will be hosting a marquee day on Sunday, Jun 18 at Drysdale Sporting Precinct on Belchers Rd.