Colleges United is a community based soccer club, originally developed to cater for children from 5 to 18 years of age, and now extended to cater for women and men of all ages. Our home ground is the Mt Crosby Sportsground on Allawah Road, Mt Crosby, in the western suburbs of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
Colleges United Soccer Club was founded in 1996, with 76 players. In 2007 that number grew to 270 registered players. We are affiliated with Football Brisbane Incorporated (FBI), and follow the international soccer rules of FIFA (Federation of International Football Association). Girls and boys play in mixed teams, with equal time on the field for all players, regardless of skill level. There are no best and fairest awards, all children receive a trophy on Presentation Day, and there are no points tables until Under 11. The idea is to participate, have fun, get some exercise, improve skills and make some new friends. In 2004 we became affiliated with Brisbane Womens Soccer (BWS) and ran our first womens team in the senior competition.
| Players originate mainly from the local areas of: |
- Mt Crosby
- Karana Downs
- Karalee
- Barellan Point
- Chuwar
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- Karana Gardens
- Lake Manchester
- Kholo
- Anstead
- Tivoli
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Colleges United plays an important community role and at all times, encourages equal playing time for all children regardless of gender or ability. Our emphasis is on participation, fair play, skills enhancement and the personal enjoyment to be gained from playing a team sport. In 1998, our Club was awarded the inaugural 'Fair Play Shield' for the least number of red and yellow cards by the BSDJSA from 32 participating clubs. In 1999, we were again the proud recipients of this shield, and an unprecedented third time in 2005.
In the 2000 season, the Colleges United Under 11 Division 3 team were Premiers, Grand Final Champions and Brisbane Association Champions! Both the Grand Final and the District Championship were firsts for the Club in its short history. In 2001 as Under 12's, the team were once again Premiers, and narrowly missed out winning the Grand Final.
In 2001, Colleges United was awarded the BSDJSA Champion Club Award for a club of our size, due to the success of our Under 12 Premiers and Under 11 Grand Finalists.
In 2002, we fielded four divisional teams in Under 11 Div 3, Under 11 Div 7, Under 12 Div 2, and Under 15 Div 4. All four teams made it to the finals, with the Under 11 Div 7 team narrowly defeated in the semi finals, and all other teams making it through to the Grand Finals. The Under 12 Div 2 team was declared joint winners in their final.
In 2003, we fielded six divisional teams, in Under 11 Div 4, Under 11 Div 8, Under 12 Div 3, Under Div 6, Under 14 Div 4, and Under 17 Div 2.
In 2004 we fielded our first womens team, who continued into 2005 and in only their second year of playing, won the Premiership and the Grand Final under the guidance of Keith 'the Koach' Hardisty.
In 2007 we had our first open mens team form with players who originated from the club as juniors in the 90's. |
Our Club encourages a lot of social activity and has the facilities for groups to use our ground for team and social events. Parents occassionally get together for 'over 35' games, where they show their sporting prowess off to the younger players. Team photo day and trophy day are two annual events for all members and players to enjoy. As a non-profit volunteer organisation, we rely on the invaluable assistance of our parents to assist with the coaching and managing of teams, and the on-going maintenance of our facilities.
We hold annual Rooball carnivals which have developed an excellent reputation, with two carnivals scheduled to be held each year; one for under 7 & under 9 teams, the other for under 8 & under 10 teams. Clubs from throughout the zone covered by the FBI are invited. Trophies or medals are awarded to the winners and runners-up, and the winners keep the perpetual shields for twelve months. All participants receive a ribbon.
Past winners of the carnivals include:
| Under 7: Perpetual shield sponsored by The Donovan Family |
| Year |
Winner |
RunnerUp |
| 2000 |
Moggill United Canberra Gold |
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| 2001 |
Moggill United Juventus Gold |
Ipswich City Celtic |
| 2002 |
Colleges United Bandicoots |
Moggill United Argentina Black |
| 2003 |
Taringa Rovers |
Colleges United Dingoes |
| 2004 |
Colleges Anteaters |
Kenmore Lions Barnsley |
| 2006 |
Colleges Anteaters |
Moggill United White |
| 2007 |
Moggill Chrystal Palace |
Western Spirit Foxes |
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| Under 8: Perpetual shield sponsored by The Slater Family |
| Year |
Winner |
RunnerUp |
| 2000 |
Moggill United Holland Gold |
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| 2001 |
Parkridge Panthers U8G |
Ipswich Knights U8A |
| 2002 |
Kenmore Brazil Gold |
Ipswich City Norwich |
| 2003 |
Ipswich City Middlesborough |
Colleges United Bandicoots |
| 2004 |
Sockers SWQ |
Ipswich Knights Atomics |
| 2006 |
Loganholme Newcastle |
Loganholme Liverpool |
| 2007 |
Moggill Cardiff |
Mt Gravatt QLD Roar |
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| Under 9: Perpetual shield sponsored by Mt Crosby Store |
| Year |
Winner |
RunnerUp |
| 2001 |
Moggill United Aston Villa |
Brisbane Lions Dinosaurs |
| 2002 |
Moggill United Barcelona |
Moggill United Arsenal |
| 2003 |
Kenmore Arsenal Gold |
Ipswich City Celtic |
| 2004 |
Sockers SWQ |
Colleges Crocodiles |
| 2006 |
Moggill United Arsenal |
Peninsula Arsenal |
| 2007 |
Regents Park Strikers |
Western Spirit Sharks |
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| Under 10: Perpetual shield sponsored by Karalee True Value Hardware |
| Year |
Winner |
RunnerUp |
| 2001 |
Ipswich Knights U10 'A' |
Moggill United Bradford |
| 2002 |
Moggill United Adelaide |
Parkridge Sabretooths |
| 2003 |
Moggill United Aberdeen Black |
Loganholme Lightning |
| 2004 |
Sockers SWQ |
Taringa Rovers |
| 2006 |
Kenmore Aberdeen |
Moggill United Hull |
| 2007 |
Moggill AC Milan |
Loganholme Glory |
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In 2002, Alan Donovan was nominated as Life Member for his services to the club. Along with Bob Slater and Keith Hardisty, Alan formed the club back in 1996 and was largely repsonsible for it's success and continued growth. Alan served as President of Colleges United until 2001.
In 2003, Keith Hardisty was nominated as Life Member for his services to the club. Keith has served as Director of Coaching since the clubs inception, and retired at the end of the 2005 season following a successful season coaching the senior womens team to their grand final victory. Keith has retired to the Gold Coast, but still can't resist returning for special guest appearances.
The end of 2005 saw the club celebrate it's tenth year anniversay with a dinner of old and new members. The night proved to be a very memorable night despite the fact we missed Keiths rendition of Danish folk dancing, where we celebrated the achievements of what is still a relatively new club with a great future.
In 2006 the club appointed David Burgener as the new Director of Coaching. David vacated the position in early 2007.
The club has now committed to a five year lease of the Mt Crosby Sportsground, and looks forward to developing the facilities further to assist the youth of the local area. The Colleges Little Athletics Centre and Mt Crosby Cricket Club are using the grounds during the summer months, and with a commitment from the Brisbane City Council to further develop the facilities for general use, the future for the Mt Crosby Sportsground should see some great improvements for both the club and the local community. |
