Houghton Districts win 2024 National Pharmacies Juniors Club of the Year

Houghton Districts Football Club’s outstanding season on and off-field has seen it win the 2024 National Pharmacies SANFL Juniors Club of the Year Award.

Introduced by SANFL four years ago, the award recognises excellence throughout the season in club governance, club development, volunteers and behaviour through a points system, with the winner showing outstanding performance across all areas.

The Houghton Districts Raiders narrowly edged out last year’s winner Walkerville, with Golden Grove placed third.

As well as reporting strong player retention, coupled with an increase in club members on 2023 figures, the Raiders excelled in the volunteer participation category.

Houghton Districts had a flawless 100 percent ratio of at least one accredited Coach and Ground Marshall in each grade while having as many as seven percent of its players also umpire in the National Pharmacies SANFL Juniors competition.

The club was also one of the leaders for good behaviour on and off the field. It remarkably did not have any red or blue cards issued to players across the season.

”We are very honoured to have won this award,” Houghton Districts Junior Delegate Sharon Henderson said.

”We feel such an overwhelming sense of pride and for a small club with limited facilities, it is testament to the hard work of our committee members, players, families, supporters, and volunteers; their unwavering support and dedication hasn’t gone unnoticed.

”We love our old and new families and make sure their children feel safe to learn and develop their football skills as well as life skills, learning to be a team member, resilience, and sportsmanship in a nurtured environment.

”And of course, a bonus of seeing kangaroos and the occasional koala on and around the oval!

”We would like to thank the SANFL Juniors team for its support and guidance over our journey as a junior club from 2018 to date.”