A dormant period for the senior men’s side was overturned in 2019, with a smash and grab season resulting in a finals appearance to complement its third-place finish in the Bendigo Amateur Soccer League Championship.
Now, with soccer finally back on the horizon, the Border Raiders are champing at the bit to hit the park once more.
“The players are excited. Many are looking to bounce back from last year and have found plenty of energy,” club president Pat Hicks said.
“A lot of guys have realised how much they’ve missed playing and are keen to get back into it.”
As for aspirations, it’s clear the club aren’t looking to descend into darkness any time soon.
Hicks highlighted his side’s ambition to go one further than 2019 and have something shiny adorning the mantlepiece come the season’s end.
“We are definitely looking to build on 2019 and hit that top four again,” he said.
“The men will be coming after silverware — whether that be the championship, premiership or both.”
Movements have been minimal at the Border Raiders over the off season.
Hicks noted while some experienced heads had departed, the side would not be left in the lurch thanks to a welcome insurance policy - youth.
“There have been a couple of seniors move on from our 2019 side, but there have also been a few young guys — Josh Bavich, Rory Van de Zand and Luka Van de Zand — who have come up and have been training well,” Hicks said.
“Ryan Perry, who was one of our leading goal scorers in 2019, has moved on.
“We managed to keep one of the Arkinstall boys, Lachlan, but his brother Cooper has left for Bendigo.
“We’ve picked up Stephen Donoghue, who is looking solid up front. He has an eye for goal and has a good touch.”
With the BASL kicking off on April 11, the Border Raiders will look to get the most out of March to best prepare for a possible repeat of the dazzling 2019 campaign.
For the women’s side, a COVID-19-induced year off may not have been the worst outcome.
The Border Raiders have slowly slidden down the ladder in recent years, missing out on finals in 2019 and 2018 after qualifying the year previous.
This time around, Hicks said a batch of hungry juniors vying for a senior spot would invigorate the side after the footballing drought last year.
“Last season they were probably a little low on numbers, but they balanced that out by putting in a lot of effort,” he said.
“This year they are similar to the men’s, in that there are lot of juniors looking to filter in.”
Lastly, Hicks eluded to a club-wide movement at the Border Raiders aimed at unifying soccer at the twin towns.
Shifting the traditional Sunday senior fixtures would see soccer spanning the entire day on Saturday — a strategy Hicks was eager to implement.
“We are looking to host as many Saturday home games as possible so we can get the juniors and seniors playing on the same day — trying to make it one event,” Hicks said.
“That is the big thing we are focusing on at the moment.”
10°C