Adelaide Hills Hawks
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| Full name | Adelaide Hills Hawks Soccer Club |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Hawks |
| Founded | 1991 |
| Ground | The Hawks Nest |
| Chairman | Craig Leith |
| League | FFSA State League |
| 2013 | 7th |
The Adelaide Hills Hawks are a soccer club from the Adelaide Hills, South Australia. Adelaide Hills play in the South Australian State League and are based at The Hawks Nest, Woodside in the Adelaide Hills. Formed in 1991, the club is still quite young in comparison to other clubs throughout the SA. The Hawks field sides in the Junior Premier League and have a Junior Academy which has produced several Senior players.
The Adelaide Hills Soccer Club was formed in 1991 by the Adelaide Hills Junior Soccer Association. In its first year of operation the club fielded only one team in the U/16 age group. John VanDerveeken Snr played a large role in bringing together players from all over the hills for the next 5 years. Before this time talented junior players had to travel to the city to further their soccer career.
In 1995 the club entered teams in the U/19 and U/23 competitions. The U/19 team, coached by John VanDerveeken Snr, won the competition and included future 1st team players such as Justin Gallagher, Daryl Harvey, Nathan Kaisler, Anthony Farina, Scott Blakemore, Jason Wegener, Erima Gallasch and a young (future Captain) Simon Wegner. Much of this team had played together in AHJSA junior teams (U12's to U16's). Darryl Harvey won the Rab Jones Medal for the most outstanding player in the U19 State League. The U/23 side by comparison was a mixture of players from different clubs. At times U/19 players would suit up again for another game.
In 1996 many of the U/19 premiership team moved into the U/23. They were joined by several slightly older AHJSA players who had Senior Amateur, State League and Premier League experience. These players included Shane Jones, Simon Dawe, David Buckley, Phil Yeardley and Doug Montgomery. The team was coached by John VanDerveeken Snr. The team made the finals but lost to Cumberland in the semi-final after dominating the first half. During 1997 and 1998 the team was training at Dunn Park in Mount Barker. The venue was a football/cricket oval (with concrete pitch), with a tiny uninsulated shed as a change room, with no showers except a hose outside to wash off the mud before going home or to 'Giovanni's' for pizza. Training conditions didn't dampen enthusiasm and the growing confidence within the team and club, instead it seem to strengthen the idea that we did deserve to play 'Senior' soccer in the State League, because we were being successful even without great training facilities.
In 1997 Craig Leith came to the club after coaching the Cumberland U/23 the previous year. Leith had a strong link to the Hills already, knew the players and saw the talent that was there. The team was unbeaten all year. It was a strong message to the competition that we would be competitive in 1st grade football. Robert Laverty... Andy Thomson... Justin Gallagher B&F Les Alagich Medalist...
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