NRSC Club History & Future

North Rocks Park Centenary 1899-1999 (Part 1 of 2)

North Rocks Park Centenary 1899-1999 (Part 2 of 2)

Club Foundation - The First 50 Years

Founded in 1965, North Rocks Soccer Club was born out of discussions between the then Principal of the North Rocks Public School, Bob Burns, and interested parents. Jock Scougall was the inaugural President and for the first couple of years games were played at the school grounds.

It is sometimes said that “You never really own a precious item…you can only ever expect to look after it for future generations” and this applies perfectly to the North Rocks Soccer Club. As is the norm, Mums and Dads become team managers and coaches of the teams that their children join and some of them go a bit further and join the management of the club. As many have discovered personally, involvement with NRSC is infectious and, once bitten, it is very hard to get it out of your system, if indeed you wish to get it out.

The club prides itself on its family club image and, as one of the largest clubs in our Association, we are well positioned to cater for both boys and girls, mens and ladies teams from age groups under 6 to over 35’s and over 45’s. NRSC also leads the way with our very successful "Rockerballers" program for children with special needs.

We live by our motto "Play Hard, Play Fair" and expect nothing less from our members, whether they are playing on the fields, coaching from the sidelines or representing the Club in the community.

North Rocks Soccer Club celebrated 50 years in season 2015, with various 50th anniversary events organised throughout the year to celebrate the milestone. Several significant functions provided both formal and casual ways of ensuring that past and present members kept in touch. As it turned out, 2015 was also to be our final season affiliated with Granville Districts Soccer Football Association (GDSFA) after half a century.
 

Club Direction - 2016 & Beyond

After decades of discussion and a couple of failed attempts, 2016 saw the birth of the new Sydney Hills Football Association (SHFA) and NRSC was thrilled to be a Foundation club. SHFA was an unsanctioned competition, however near record numbers playing for the club and over 7000 players playing within the association made it a roaring success. 

So much so that, after only a single unsanctioned season, FNSW created the fully sanctioned Hills Football Incorporated (HFI) in September 2016. It was then announced that NRSC had been accepted as one of the Foundation clubs for this exciting new Association which has also proven to be a great success from Day 1.

With the end of an era coming to a close and the beginning of a new one, NRSC updated its Club logo in 2016 to a more modern version of the Roc bird, a middle eastern mthyological bird similar to the phoenix or thunderbird.

North Rocks Park Precinct

In late 2018 NRSC was the lucky recipient of a $20,000 Football NSW "Light Up Football" grant and our long-held desire for the lighting at North Rocks Park to be upgraded to 100 LUX suddenly became a reality. The work was completed relatively quickly & the Club hosted an official "Lights On Celebration" on 2 August 2019 at North Rocks Park to thank all stakeholders involved in this special community project. We look forward to playing night games at our spiritual home for the first time ever!

During the 2020 decade and beyond, NRSC will need to balance the growing numbers of participants in our sport and population growth of the local community, with field availability in the area. Last year, Parramatta City Council released a masterplan for the North Rocks Park precinct (see https://www.cityofparramatta.nsw.gov.au/recreation-environment/our-parks/park-and-reserve-masterplans/north-rocks-park-precinct-masterplan) however it is unknown when this work will commence or how the current playing fields will be impacted / improved.

Nevertheless, there are exciting times ahead for our Club so stay tuned!!