History
The Sarahawks history begins with a dad called Mark Kentwell, his son Alex (at the time a registered player at Terrigal) and a vision to get Saratoga kids benefiting from an amazing Auskick sports program and to play the greatest game in Australia – AFL!
From a humble beginning in 2001 to the current club in 2022, much has taken place in our great little footy club.
1999 - 2001
Pre-History 1999
The Sarahawk's history begins with a dad called Mark Kentwell, his son Alex (at the time a registered player at Terrigal) and a vision to get Saratoga kids benefiting from an amazing Auskick sports program and to play the greatest game in Australia – AFL!At the time all Saratoga players had to go to Terrigal Auskick. It was not long before they had set up a Terrigal Auskick group in Saratoga itself.Amongst the kids in that first years intake were Alex Kentwell, Mitch Guthmann, Mitch Crosland, Alex Tomlin, Blake Brissett, Liana Towgood and Blake Kelly (in fact there were a total of 15 that year).Pre-History 2000
2000 saw a permanent move to Saratoga Oval, increasing Auskick to 20 kids. Terrigal seemed to lose interest in us, with nobody coming down to the sessions and the kids wondering what & who Terrigal were. Parents and kids alike were starting to murmur about a lack of identity. Amongst the notable (and memorable) additions to the crew were: The Crawfords, the Taylors and the Rankins.2001 - A tradition begins: No politics & all for FUN!
Prior to the season start, Mark received a call from the CCJAFL, about a new Under 10’s non-comp. They wanted Saratoga to form a club and put in an Under 10’s team. Knowing that this was what the parents and kids were after, the club was duly formed, with our headquarters at the beautiful Saratoga Oval. Now, for some “odd” reason, the one-eyed Hawthorn supporter that was Mark, decided in an executive decision that the Saratoga team should be known as the Hawks and take on the Hawthorn strip! That first year all was run by an enthusiastic Mark and a reluctant Tracy Kentwell (as treasurer). This year saw the introduction of the Andersons, the Cantrills, Jay MacDonald, the Mumfords, Nick Ramsden, the Rodways, the Williams’ and Liam Townsend. Dave Crawford took on the mantle as the 1st Saratoga Hawks Auskick coordinator and Mark Kentwell coached the Under 10’s. We now had 45 kids!The first team comprised:
Ben & Matt Taylor, Alex Tomlin, Heather & Tom Rankin, Alex Kentwell, Nick Ramsden, Max Mumford, Blake Brissett, Nick Merritt, Mitch Crosland and Mitch Guthmann. $80 got us our 1st strip (thanks Killarney Vale). It was a copy of the old Brisbane Bears strip, which the kids wore with pride.The end of 2001, saw our first ever Presentation, with every kid receiving a trophy and a polo t-shirt commemorating our foundation year.2002 - 2005
2002
The 1st official committee was formed including Mark Kentwell - President, Tracy Kentwell - Treasurer, Dave Crawford – Auskick Manager, Miles Guthmann – Football Manager, Cathy Hunter - Marketing. 1st off - The new clubhouse and canteen facility were to be built! Our 1st Black and gold Hawks strip was donated to us by the AFL. Season 2002 also sawan interesting mix of two new clubs, being ourselves and Niagara Park. We combinedour kids to create an Under 11’s team – coached by Mark Kentwell and an Under12’s team coached by Doug Studdert of Niagara Park.Notable additions to the club were: the Hunters, the Wilsons, the Reibels and Scott Cairns.Our numbers hovered around that elusive 42 mark.2003
2003 Saratoga Hawks put together independent teams in Under 10’s & 12’s.We had over 50 kids and a growing Auskick centre!Saratogas 1st first home game with clubhouse/changerooms/canteen facility and a real scoreboard (thanks Jorben Greenvale Contructions).Rod Taylor becomes the clubs first accredited umpire & is honoured at presentation day with some “special” umpiring glasses – dutifully painted with blackout paint by the President!The Clubman of the Year award is struck for the first year and it is presented to the President, Mark Kentwell! The Hawk Award is also struck for the firstyear and Goal Umpire, Chef & general dogs body Phil "Beanie" Mumford is the first recipient.John Anderson, together with Steve Williams & Darren Rodway looked after our Auskickers, while Dave Crawford coached the Under 10’s and Mark Kentwell looked after the Under 12’s.Our notable additions this year were: Lachlan Bell, the Martins, the Hawkins, the Fullers and Alex “Mr H” Havet joined us half way through the year.2004
Season 2004 is when records and memory start to merge, as we put in our own Under 14’s team under the able tutelage of Matt Hawkins. This year our committee is comprised of: Mark Kentwell – President, Tracy Kentwell – Treasurer, Miles Guthmann – Football Manager, Dave Crawford – Marketing, Chris Cantrill – Secretary, Mal Crosland – CCJAFL Rep, John Anderson & Darren Rodway – Auskick Manager, Cathy Wilson – Ground Manager & Joshua Hunter – Players representative. Chris & Kim Cantrill also provided much needed umpiring for both our club and the League in general – much appreciated!This year sees 18 kids in Auskick, with Ando, Darren & Linda Marin ably looking after the kids & having a great time, it also sees the Under 10’s flourish under Dave Crawford and the 12’s Mark Kentwell. We also introduce the concept that if you receive the Player of the Week award, then your parent has to sit in goals the next week – this relieves many as “the usual suspects” can now watch their kids more often than not. Also attached with the Player of the Week award is the duty of washing the Guernseys – each player is informed that it is their duty to wash them, not Mum or Dad’s – another hit with the parents!In what was to prove a financially disastrous offer, the President declared that if we had a win during the year, then the whole club would be taken on a special treat, courtesy of the aforementioned President. Well, true to form, the Under 12’s came up with the first club win and Mark took the whole club to a special screening of Shrek at Kincumber Cinema –a treat for all and still a financial bone of contention with “the missus”.Not content with one win, our Under 12’s went through to the finals and in what still remains as the best ever quarter of football for this young club the kids were 6 goals down going into the last quarter and looking to go out without even a whimper in our first ever final. In what has been described as the most inspiring team talk since John Kennedy Snr’s “chat to the boys” before Hawthorns Grand Final meeting with North Melbourne, Mark implored his charges to show what they were made of, to show that having fun and enjoying the game, as well as displaying your skills was the only thing to happen over the next 15 minutes. Well, the rest is history, as they say, the kids all dug deep and played like true veterans as they dominated Killarney Vale at Rogers Park and came within three points of winning the final! Now, dear reader, it is rare that a loss is lauded as something to aspire to, however, as we all know in the true Australian Spirit of the ANZACS, we admire courage, tenacity and all round effort in the face of adversity. While the kids weren’t exactly dodging bullets, they were showing just what could be accomplished with belief! The feeling around the ground is best demonstrated by an SMS sent to Mark from Miles after the game – it reads simply: “Semi-finals, 4th place just by having fun. Top job!”. I think it is just this spirit that defines this young club. We have never, and hope never to, have an attitude of “win at all cost”, our preference is to let the kids be kids and enjoy their sport… its juts a pity that we are in the minority! If you disagree with this statement, then please look to what you are doing with your kids and ask are you trying to relive your youth, or allow your kids to have theirs… I think we all know what the answer in your heart of hearts will be. We also see the Hawk award presented to Tracy Kentwell and Jackie Cairns for their brilliant work in the canteen throughout the year with Miles Guthmann picking up the Clubman of the Year award with all his work as Football Manager finally going rewarded! The presentation was held at the Kincumba Mountain lookout and included our first Kids vs. Parents melee (or should that read game?). This also was the beginning of the end of season video collage that is proving popular with all and allowing us to provide a video history of our club into the bargain.This year brings the following notables to the Hawks Nest: Ben “Dozer” Higgon, Josh Price, Ben Manners, Jesse Hancock, the Bourkes, Mitchell Lamm, James Jarrett, Jarrad Warren, Brett Small, Mitch Fyfe-Smith, the Stubbs family, Tom “GBH” Castelnuovo, Lloyd Rand, Samantha Kentwell, Ari & Ayden Havet and Jacob Crosland – yes, this was a BIG year, we are now up to 60 kids!2005
Season 2005 sees Auskick run by Dave Crawford, swapping his duties with John Anderson who takes charge of the Under 10’s. Mark Kentwell again coaches the Under 12’s and Matt Hawkins returns for the 14’s. We now have 21 in Auskick, 14 in the Under 10’s, 16 in the 12’s and 18 in the 14’s – a total of 69 kids!Due to Dave now running Auskick, he thinks he isn’t doing enough, so also steps up as an Umpire!Our notable additions this year are: the Montgomery’s, the Pikes, Patrick Kidd, Robby Birchall, Hayden Churchill, Brett Hevers, Brad Guthmann and Ethan Lenson. Ethan came to us in the middle of the season direct from Rugby League and in his first game was penalised for every “Rugby” infraction. It is most notable, however, that eh only transgressed once and eared himself 2 Umpire votes for the Best & Fairest in this match!We introduce the now infamous (Miles loves them) Gold polo shirts for the Committee and Coaches so that they can be instantly recognised and seen from across the planet – further, we also introduce the kids Grey t-shirts to start demonstrating team presence before “kitting up”.This is the year that the Swans win the flag – oh, what a year! It is also the first time Auskickers from around the country are taken to the Grand Final and present the medallions to the winning team, as well as play on the MCG in the half-time break. Lindsay Pike won this opportunity in a lottery for the Central Coast and handled himself with aplomb and gave Ben Matthews his medallion! Just quietly, the lineup to be called Lindsay’s father reached around the block – much to Brian’s dismay. Brian, by the way, loved the trip!We also see the emergence of some of the real talent involved in our club as we provided 14 reps to the Central Coast, Alex Havet wins best Mid-Fielder in the nder 13’s Talented Player Programme and is taken to the inaugural AFL Swans Academy, Under 10’s Coach of the Year goes to John Anderson and we placed 2nd in the Club Championship for the CCJAFL.John Hooper takes the Hawks award this year for and Dave Crawford gets the gong as Clubman of the Year. It also is the start of our Presentation Days being held at Davistown RSL!2006 - 2008
2006
Season 2006 we maintain our numbers across the club, while expanding into a United team for the Under 16’s,as we only had 4 players in this age group. The United team is made up of kids from Peninsular Swans, Northlakes Power and Saratoga. We have 22 in the Under 10’s, 12 in the 12’s and 17 in the 14’s. Also, we get proper posts, after vandals shortened ours last year!
Dave Crawford again takes Auskick with a much reduced number, but still with a fantastic attitude and desire for FUN! The Under 10’s again are ably taken by John Anderson with Michael Lamm helping out as his Manager – even though this is a non-comp and we don’t score the games, they were undefeated in the end of Season Chairmans Challenge (sound of chest thumping proudness here). The 12’s again were taken by Mark Kentwell, with numbers at a premium, we had to rely on Under 10’s playing up each week to ensure we had a game – we tried everything to get new kids involved, but to no avail. This being said, however, they we more than competitive and their spirit and love of the game is to be honoured and admired.
The Under 14’s – the mighty Under 14’s – ably coached by Rob Dixon ended the Season 3rd on the ladder and beat Gosford to record our first ever Finals win. Unfortunately the next week, the boys were narrowly defeated by Killarney Vale in the Preliminary final and if it were not for five of our charges being out on their feet with the flu… well, we cant change history. Of special note is Rob Dixon through this year – he brought a level of professionalism to the club and the boys that we were crying out for and he had to do this through a very tough time from his previous club. You see, Rob Dixon started the Terrigal-Avoca club and it was seen by some at that club that he was a “traitor” in helping us out – sad, isn’t it!
Our notable inclusions this year were: Jake “Hollywood” Castelnouvo, Christian Bathie, Nick Langthorne, Andy Hodgson, Ryan “Coggo” Coughlan, Dexter Bamford, Pete “Plugger” Redman, Jacob “Flash” Downey, the Wards, the Yorkies, Mitch Lord and Harrison Doyle.
The United Under 16’s team coached proudly by Tony Kibler of Northlakes and ably assisted by John Manners in what was to be his first “apprentice” year made it to 4th on the ladder and snagged their first Finals win!
We had a club of 69, with some 15 in Auskick, this leaves 50-odd available for selection in reps – we provided to the CCJAFL 20 kids! Not satisfied with this, Ethan Lenson is awarded Most Consistent in the Under 16’s competition, Alex Havet again is chosen to go to the Swans Academy as well as winning the Under 14’s League Fairest & Best – not bad at all!
The Hawk Award this year goes to Hayden’s mum Karyn Lenson and the Clubman Award goes to John Anderson. This year also sees the introduction of the Junior Clubperson Award and the inaugural winner of this award is Max Mumford – not for his (obvious) on-field prowess, but for his assistance around the club at training and on game days – embodying the philosophy of the club at all times: HAVE FUN!
2007
We grow to 77 kids! Mark Kentwell goes back to his “first love” and runs the Auskickers again. We may have only had 10 kids, but they had the most fun on the coast! Miles Guthmann stepped up this year to take care of the Under 10’s, as John Anderson moved up to the Under 12’s and Dave Crawford returned to coach the Under 14’s.Under 16’s again were a United effort with Penisluar Swans, Northalkes and our boys, with the same coaching team, albeit much more in control. Wayne & Kerry Hancock kindly purchased a United Guernsey for the boys and they were resplendent in green!We now introduce the Gold shirts for the kids with the simple “Sara Hawks” logo on the front – they are a hit with both the kids and the parents! Our notable inclusions this year are: Braydon Andrews, the Fairchilds, Lachlan Faulder, the “last” Guthmann (Brandon or George), Rob Lavery, Jake Mantoszko, Joe Mee, Karl Power, Ben Tate and Alex Yuile.Once again, our kids showed true skill in providing 20 players to the representative mix for the Central Coast, a further 5 to Northern Heat and Alex Havet was again invited to the Swans Academy for a record third year! Not happy with that, Max Mumford won the Central Coasts Fairest & Best and Alex Havet was runner-up in the 16’s – not bad for a kid only really an Under 15 – further to that, he was beaten by the kid taken on as an Apprentice to Essendon and the kid Apprenticed to the Swans didn’t even rate a vote!The Hawk awards go to Brett Bathie, Robyn Havet & John Owens, while the Junior Clubperson goes to Mitch “Legs” Guthmann and the Senior Clubperson goes to David Langthorne.2008
We stand alone in the Under 16’s with 22 regular players in the team, no bad when we started the season with only 16! We have now grown to over 90 kids with strong numbers in 12’s & 16’s. Unlike many, we saw that having over 30 kids in Under 12’s meant we had to field two teams to ensure the kids all got an even break and the maximum game time – to this we have created the Brown & the Golds – the Brown team is mainly the Under 12’s from Season 2007, who were mainly Under 11’s then and the Golds are the newer kids to the club, with a few kids from last year that preferred to be with their mates. It is important to all that these teams have not been selected on skill, but on compatibility and friendship, we are after all the club that walks the walk when it comes to FUN being the object of Junior sport!We finally have our own Web presence with www.sarahawks.org.au coming into being, for many years we were hosted under the KnW Solutions website and telling people of our web presence was a bit of a mouthful, so we now have a home page worthy of our kids!
Foundation Team 2002
2008
Alec Anderson played 2002 through to 2017
2013 Under 17's
What a team and what a season!
2014 Under 11's
Great set of hands Alec