The Coogee Dolphins were formed for three reasons to,
The Coogee Dolphins JRLFC was formed in October 1993 after a few mates thought it would be a good idea to run a football club with the Palace as its base. The Coogee Dolphins inaugural meeting was held in November 1993.
In the Dolphins’ first year, an A Grade side and an Under 6 team were fielded in the Eastern Suburbs Juniors Competition.
The Coogee Dolphins have played in the South Sydney Juniors competition since 1995, in that same year we saw our Under 7s win our first-ever Premiership. Our Under 8s next took out the title in 1999.
2000 saw the first Coogee Dolphins Sportsman’s Lunch to be held at the Beach Palace Hotel with monies raised from the Major Auction being donated to the Sydney Children’s Hospital.
This event continues to be a major part of the Dolphins annual calendar and we know to raise funds for the Ronald McDonald House in Randwick.
On the 12th of October 2002, six members of the Coogee Dolphins touring party were tragically killed in the Bali Tragedy. Those members that lost their lives were Clint Thompson (6), Adam Howard (10), David Mavroudis (5), Shane Foley (8), Gerard Yeo (3) and Joshua Iliffe (4).
In honour of our mates, the Club’s logo was redesigned to incorporate the numbers that they played in.
The Club was also renamed to become the Coogee Beach Dolphins Sports Association Inc.
The 2003 season saw us compete in six divisions of the South’s Juniors competition (Under 6s, 8s, 11s, 13s, A & A Reserve), with our A Reserve side competing against, and coming second to, the Paddington Woollahra Tigers in our first Senior Grand Final.
The same year, the Dolphins also formed three netball sides and competed in the Randwick Netball Association, winning two of the three divisions that we competed in. We continue to field netball teams every year.
In 2003, the club also lost player Darrin Martin to cancer, leaving behind a wife and three young children. Every year since, the club has held the Darren Martin Golf Day, raising money for the children’s welfare and for member’s who need assistance.
2003 saw the Club celebrate our 10-year anniversary with the announcement of our inaugural life members.
Our A Grade overcame La Perouse to win its first ever Premiership in 2004, whilst our Under 6s won a thrilling Grand Final 35-34, to also become Premiers.
The same year, we were invited to compete for the Remembrance Cup against the Glen Mills Bulls at Franklin Field, Philadelphia. This game was the curtain raiser game before the inaugural test between Australia and the United States of America. The Coogee Dolphins won the trophy, defeating the Bulls 42-10.
We were successful in taking out the A Reserve premiership in 2005, whilst our Under 12s were unfortunately defeated in the Grand Final.
Our Under 6 Division 2 side became Premiers in 2006.
2007 saw the Under 6 Division 1 side win their Premiership. In the A and A Reserve both teams made the Grand Final, the A reserve as Minor Premiers. The A Grade went on to become Premiers.
Off the field, we won the three-year battle to install lights at Bardon Park so our Juniors could train safely.
2008 saw our A Grade repeat their Premiership effort beating Moore Park in a thrilling Grand Final. Our A reserve were also Minor Premiers and the 7div1’s ran second. While as a club we were awarded the AAMI Community Service Award for our fund-raising efforts for charity.
2009 was the year of the under 7's competing in division 2 and 4 and taking out the Grand Final in both.
2010 we were Minor Premiers in four divisions A grade, U/6 div1, U/6 div2 and U/6div4. We won the Grand finals in the U/7 div3 and U/6 div4. Eleven netball teams were also entered in the Randwick Netball Ass competition.
Off the field we were also made Bronze Sponsors of the Sydney Childrens Hospital for raising in excess of $100,000 for them over the years.
In 2011 the club only had one senior team, an A Grade side. It was a tough year in which we only won one game, that being the Adam Howard Shield.
In 2012 Souths Juniors District Rugby League only had a multi club A Grade competition.
We fielded two A Grade teams that year. Both sides made the semis and had to play an elimination semi-final against each other at Erskineville Oval. It was one of the toughest games we played all year with the Gold team getting away with it in the end.
The Gold team went on to lose in the preliminary final at Coogee Oval. We did, however go on to compete for and win the Remembrance Cup in Las Vegas in 2012.
in 2013 the Reserve Grade and A Grade finished minor premiers, with A Reserve going all the way to GF and being crowned competition champions.
2014 and 2015 saw the club begin a rebuilding period after losing several key players to retirement, with 2016 seeing A Grade lose out in the Major Semi-Finals whilst Reserve Grade went all the way to the Grand Final against Bondi UTD. After being locked up 20-20 at full time, Bondi came out on top 22-20 with a penalty goal. The boys finished runners up.
2017 again saw the A Grade be knocked out in the Major Semi Finals, whilst Reserve Grade finished 1 point off the Minor Premiership. Doing it tough in the semi-finals, A Reserve went back to the GF and defeated Minor Premiers La Perouse Panthers 28-18 to be crowned 2017 Champions.
At season end 26 Dolphins staff and players headed to Jacksonville in Florida to defeat the Axemen 16-0, next heading to Chicago to turn over the Chicago Stockyarders 20-16 and be crowned the Midwest Rugby League 9's Champions for 2017.
2018 saw the return of some old boys to take on the inaugural role of coaching the first ever Coogee Dolphins seniors U/17s team. It would be the first time ever Coogee Dolphins would field a senior team that had come through the entire junior system together and would be captained by one of the longest serving Dolphins in the team, Harley Holmes.
Joel Morris (ex-player) took on the head coach role with Life Member Brock Thompson (ex-player and first Grand Final winning Captain) and Brendan Prouse (ex-player) taking up the assistant coach’s positions. The coaches remember their first thoughts of the team being “gees they are a motley crew” with their later comments post season being ‘they are the best bunch of boys you could ever hope to coach’.
It turned out to be a very successful season with the U/17’s winning the competition and going as far as only losing the one game all season. The celebrations nearly went as long as the season!
2019 saw the now U/18s team and coaching staff return to defend their title. No longer being the unknown team in the competition and flying under the radar, all teams were now out to beat the defending Premiers.
This new found pressure brought with it a whole new set of challenges for the coaching staff and players alike, however like the true champion team the Coogee Dolphins U/18s were, they rose to the occasion each and every week beating all before them, ultimately winning the competition again only this time earning the prestigious title as ‘undefeated Premiers’. The party is still continuing.
In 2019 The Merivale Group also became proud sponsors of the Coogee Dolphins Sports Club, which incorporates Junior Football and Netball within the Coogee Basin, and our A grade made the semi-finals.
2020 a year no one will forget with the COVID 19 Pandemic. This was the first Covid-19 disrupted season. Souths Junior’s District Rugby League did not run their competitions due to the pandemic and most clubs went on hiatus. But not the Dolphins who with support from sponsors and the Coogee Old Boys, our club was able to enter our A-Grade & Reserve Grade teams in the NSWRL Gold & Silver Combined Competitions taking us to locations and grounds we never played at before.
With 2021 being another Covid effected year, our A-Grade were sitting in second place on the ladder, and we were sure this was our year to win the competition when the season was brought to a premature end due to COVID 19 restrictions.
In 2022 both our A-Grade & Reserve Grade sides were the best defensive sides in their competitions and finished the preliminary rounds entrenched in the top three.
Both sides were unlucky not to make the grand final, especially A-Grade who fell to the eventual premiers in a tight preliminary final.
We are also the only club to field a team in the A grade every year since forming in 1993. Every other club has had at least one year without an A grade team. This is an achievement we are extremely proud of.
