Almanac Footy – Surf Coast Suns: The birth of a footy club

May 11, 2026 by shunt Leave a Comment

All too often these days we hear about how country footy is struggling: Clubs are folding or merging. Leagues are folding or merging. The gap between the haves and the have-nots is widening. Country clubs rich with cash from local farmers are spending up on players and bending the salary cap laws to breaking point. The clubs without the cash are going years without a win. In the North Gippsland Football League for example, Gormandale recently broke a 66 game (or four year) losing streak by beating Yarram by 23 points. Last weekend in the Maryborough-Castlemaine District League, Campbells Creek broke a 55 game losing streak by beating Avoca by six points.

In the AFL, cash seems to be flowing more freely than ever. The recent Hawthorn v Collingwood drawn game saw 75,000 people at the MCG on a Thursday night. Broadcast rights deals are through the roof and sponsorship deals from betting agencies fill the coffers more than ever. Yet little of this seems to be filtering down to grass roots level. Clubs complain of being left to fend for themselves with a lack of assistance from the regional or state governing bodies.

Against the tide, in the Bellarine Football League (BFL) that fields clubs from Geelong, the Bellarine Peninsula, and the Surf Coast, a good news story has recently emerged. The 2026 season has seen the birth of a new club: The Surf Coast Suns.

To say it’s the ‘birth’ of a new club is a falsehood as the club has been fielding junior teams for ten seasons now, but this year is the first time they have fielded senior football and netball teams. Launching a senior football team in a competition as strong as the BFL is a daunting task and, after being thrashed by 148 points by their cross-town rivals the Torquay Tigers in the first game of their inaugural season, the road to fielding a competitive side seemed a long and arduous one. Many struggled to understand why the Suns chose to play the Tigers – one of the strongest and most successful clubs in the league – in their first game. AFL Barwon, the local governing body, tried to convince them otherwise. But club president Jay Williams insisted on the fixture. He wanted to foster an immediate cross-town rivalry and set the scene for years to come when the Suns become more competitive on the field. Despite the result on-field, the day was a big success off-field with 5,000 spectators showing up to Banyul-Warri Fields, the Suns home ground in Torquay North.

After the initial hiding, people figured there was going to be a lot more of the same for the rest of the season. Clubs pencilled in their games against the Suns as a definite win, a mindset that backfired against Portarlington in Round 2 when the Suns bounced back to defeat the Demons on their own ground by 13 points for a historic first win for the club.

The road to becoming regularly competitive on the field will still be long and hard going. In 2026 only two players from their juniors program have been good enough to make the senior team. However, by building a club from the juniors up, the Suns are building a strong foundation for a long and successful future. Membership numbers are already strong and sponsors have flocked to the club. Torquay is a growing town in a growing region and there is now definitely room for two clubs.

When I learned of the Suns entry into the BFL, I knew I wanted to get the club’s president on our Rambling Podcast as a guest. My co-host Brian Hine and I often talk about the plight of country footy clubs – and of regional communities in general – and we wanted to explore the good news story behind the birth of a club for a change. We were fascinated with what it takes to launch a new senior club; the challenges, the expectations, and the work being done by the amazing volunteers behind the club.

In our chat with Jay he reveals the enormous amount of work that’s gone into launching the Surf Coast Suns senior teams, the obstacles they faced, the passion he has for the club and for footy in general, and what drives him and those around him to devote so much time and effort to making their dream of building the Surf Coast Suns into a successful club both on and off the field. It is a fascinating conversation that reveals the level of passion and commitment behind country footy clubs.

To listen to our chat with Jay Williams, President of the Surf Coast Suns Football Club, listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or follow us on our Patreon page.