Since its foundation as the North Ryde Australian Junior Football Club, and in the years that followed, the club has flourished and diminished in both administration and participation. Unfortunately along with the demise is the loss of a large portion of the clubs historical records. The present Committee has set about to find the missing pieces and fill the large resulting gap.

Australian Rules Football (AFL) was established in the Ryde district 45 years ago by Mr and Mrs Ted Barden. A document presented to the 2006 Committee which read, “Minutes of the inaugural meeting of the North Ryde Australian Junior Football Club, Thursday November 4^th 1965” was accepted as a true and correct document thus giving birth to our club. Mr Reg Yaldwyn was appointed as the club’s first Chairman.

A new interest was shown by Andrew Moylan, a local resident, and the club re-formed in March 1997 under the Constitution of the North Ryde RSL and Youth Club as the North Ryde Junior Football Club ‘Kangaroos’. Andrew’s efforts along with those of his wife, Cathy, re-established the club, playing competition games at ELS Hall Park in Marsfield; and making the Ryde community aware that AFL was back on the local sporting agenda as a new, alternate winter sport for children and youth participation.

As reward for their efforts, North Ryde won back-to-back “Club of the Year” awards in 1997-98. Word got out and the success of the club saw player numbers grow over the following years. A breakaway group formed and moved to nearby Drummoyne Oval, establishing another club on our district shores and further enhancing the presence of AFL in the region. As their boys progressed onwards in their sports, Andrew and Cathy Moylan departed the club. In 2002 both were afforded the honour of becoming the clubs inaugural “Life Members” in recognition of their efforts in successfully reinvigorating the club.

In 2004 it was decided that the player deemed Best and Fairest in the club’s most senior team would be awarded the “Moylan Medal” – the inaugural winner was Daniel Brian. Local primary schools adopted AFL as a new school sport, and introduced the Paul Kelly Cup and Friday afternoon PSSA competitions at ELS Hall Park. Marist College Eastwood continued with AFL for senior boys with a new north-west Sydney Thursday afternoon competition.

2005 saw the first batch of players to represent North Ryde in 100 games, each of whom were awarded with “Player Life Memberships”. Local Member for Lane Cove, Mr Anthony Roberts accepts the nomination to become the Club Patron, and under a new sponsorship arrangement, sporting establishment “Next Generation” became the club’s new home for training and meetings. Club president Mark Lee, in concert with Drummoyne coach Darren Lewtas, forged a pathway agreement for junior footballers to progress to senior levels through local senior club, Balmain.

Success for the club continued in 2005 with the North Ryde Kangaroos being awarded, yet again, “Club of the Year” by the Northside Association, in addition to the Sydney Swans state wide award of “Junior Club of the Year”. 2006 saw the club adopt a motion to part ties with the North Ryde RSL Youth Club and became an incorporated club on February 22^nd. The ‘new’ North Ryde Australian Football Club fielded six teams in the newly formed “Greater Sydney Junior AFL” competition.

On Tuesday 23^rd May 2006, the AFL presented new goalposts to be installed at ELS Hall Oval, thus establishing the true identity of the sport and the home of AFL in the district. ELS Hall Oval remains the only dedicated AFL ground in the municipality of Ryde. The evolution of the club continued in 2007 with the North Ryde Australian Junior Football Club becoming a partner club of the Fremantle Dockers AFL Club under a bold new agreement. The pre-season saw the club transform into the North Ryde ‘Dockers’ Junior AFL Club, adopting the distinct uniform of Fremantle’s away game, purple-on-white anchor, livery.

Community spirit is always a high priority within the club and 2007 was no exception. A cold, damp night wasn’t enough to deter participants as a vast majority of the club gave up an hour of their time to participate in a 24hr charity walk, and numerous other activities throughout the afternoon and evening as part of what was known as “The Ryde Community Challenge” in support of a local facility for the disabled. The event even attracted one of the country’s best known walkers, the then Prime Minister of Australia, The Honourable John Howard.

Our new partnership was complemented by several of our teams reaching the Finals Series, unfortunately only one advanced to the Grand Final. The Under 10’s became the first ‘Dockers’ team to compete in a Grand Final in what was described as “one of the best games of junior football”. Coming from the bottom of the ladder at the end of Round 5 and being all but written off, the junior Dockers, under the guidance of Trevor “Mitch” Mitchell and Stu Goldfinch, surprised and amazed everyone with their gritty performances throughout the remainder season, surpassing the competition winning 8 out of the remaining 11 games (one game was a washout) to storm into the top four and compete in the finals. After blistering performances in both the Elimination and Semi Finals, this gutsy team missed out on premiership glory by a mere seven points after eventually succumbing to their nemesis team in the dying minutes of the game. Despite the disappointment of the result, the tenacity and determination displayed by this team is certain to remain one of the clubs greatest on-field achievements.

2008 saw a slight reduction in player numbers but the club was again witness to season success with 4 teams again reaching the Finals, 3 of which went all the way to the big one. The Under 13’s and a combined North Ryde/Concord Under 15’s topped off their season by winning their respective Grand Finals and ‘brought the flag’ to North Ryde. A combined North Ryde/Holroyd Parramatta Under 16 team fiercely contested their Grand Final but were unfortunately defeated on the day.

* 2009 summary required *

2010 has again seen a drop in player numbers. Several teams were in danger of having to be disbanded but luckily minimum numbers were found and we now have teams competing across all age groups. The good news for the club is in the strength of numbers being generated through the AUSKICK program, and in the Under 9’s and 10’s. The AUSKICK program became a successful, nation-wide club recruitment program and is still today the new backbone of AFL in junior and school levels.  Hopefully each and every one of those kids will enjoy the game and continue to be valued members of our club for many seasons to come.

The season saw yet another successful campaign with 3 of the 5 ‘competitive’ teams (Under 11’s, 13’s and 16’s) securing their respective minor premierships and proceding into the finals. Unfortunately, the Under 16 team were eliminated in a hard fought Preliminary Final, both the 11's and 13's had better fortunes making it to their respective Grand Finals. The boys did the club proud, their efforts and hard work throughout the year paid dividends culminating in convincing wins and Premiership glory for both.

Ironicaly, these 3 teams were in danger of being scrapped at the start of the season due to lack of players, particularly the 13’s who on most games have played with minimum numbers, often relying on support from Under 12’s and 11’s players rising up to lend a much needed hand. The achievements of these teams are a credit to the coaching staff, the parents, and most importantly, the self-belief that these kids generated.

AFL successfully competes in all states of Australia with participation at junior levels rivalling those of the other football codes. Juniors and youth enjoy playing football because it is fast and fun, is high scoring, provides opportunities for social interaction, is team-based, and the physical nature and toughness appeals to many adolescents.

Junior AFL is spread over 9 age groups ranging from AUSKICK (ages 5-8) through to Under 16’s, catering for a variety of experience and skill levels. The North Ryde Dockers Junior AFL Club provides a safe, supporting, encouraging and inclusive environment for boys and girls of all ages who have an interest in learning about, and playing Australian Rules Football.