Matt Thistlethwaite (Kingsford Smith, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

On 21 February I had the great honour of attending the mighty Maroubra Saints AFL Club season launch.

This wonderful community club formed only 14 years ago and has grown to one of the biggest sporting and community clubs in our community. It was formed in 2000 with just 25 players, and it has now grown to 600 registered players in the 2014 season. In 2005 it won its first premiership in the Sydney junior AFL league, and in 2007 had its first player drafted into an AFL club. Last year they won four premierships, and they have two girls teams playing in the under 14's and the under 17's competitions.

It is a remarkable achievement in just 14 years—growing from 25 players to over 600 registered players. The senior club is known as the Randwick Saints and has had many players drafted and selected for New South Wales. It is a wonderful community club for players of all ages, with 450 families involved. They even have an 'old and bold' team called the 'Sinners', with over-40's teams in men's and women's competitions.

It is wonderful to see their home ground of Pioneer Park in Malabar full on weekends, with kids enjoying a healthy lifestyle and promoting community work. I thank the nearly 100 volunteers of the Maroubra Saints and wish them all the best for the 2014 AFL season.

See this speech in context