It's a Bingera blitz
SINCE the start of the decade, no club in Bundaberg sports has had a stranglehold as tight as Bingera Football Club’s grip on the GBI Skin Care Ladies’ premiership.
Brothers cricket team has set itself apart in the Bundaberg Cricket Association with ruthless domination in recent years.
And Across The Waves Eagles’ streak of grand final appearances in Wide Bay AFL was startling.
But no accomplishment compares to Bingera’s 10-straight premierships since 2000.
However, as coach Debbie Caldwell explained to the NewsMail yesterday, even with all those premierships, the off-season uncertainty always remains the same.
With the closing of each season, Caldwell, who is now the club president, has said goodbye to at least one of her key players, only to see a new crop of stars emerge in the new pre-season.
“It’s going to be the same next season,” Caldwell said.
“We’ve had some interest from players who want to come join us, but we won’t know until training starts at the end of January.”
When Caldwell returned to Bingera in 1999 after two seasons with Brothers Aston Villa, the thought of a premiership did not enter her mind.
“We had some young players that we thought could be good players,” she said.
“In 1999 we came third then in 2000 we won it. And we’ve kept winning since.”
The winning culture has paved the way for Bingera’s domination over the competition in the past decade.
Caldwell said it was the continuous stream of rep stars that cemented Bingera’s status as the class act of the competition.
“We’ve had a lot of players go away and play for Queensland. They come back from those teams and they bring back a different level of intensity,” she said.
“Whether its Sonia Hughes, Sharon Anderson or Natalie Hunter, we’ve always had players who have gone to the next level.”
Whether 2010 can usher the beginning of a new era of dominance for the Bingera team remains to be seen.
But the emergence of superstars such as Madeline McCracken means the perennial favourites will assume that position when the season kicks off.
