Kissing Point Sports’ Club, was created in 1957 when a group of about six interested people gathered with a view to establishing a soccer competition in the municipality.
Back then, South Turramurra was still in its early days of development … There was no local shopping centre. The land where the high school now stands was still an orchard. Turramurra Public School had only opened four years earlier with 47 pupils. The land which the oval now occupies was still owned by flower growers. and the Comenarra had not been built. It took three meetings of these enthusiasts to get the Ku-ring-gai District Junior Soccer Association officially established and in that same year, South Turramurra’s first soccer team was formed.
The rest is history…..
1957 – Kissing Point Sports Club founded and soccer kicks off
The club is established and the inaugural Turramurra (aka Kissing Point) Soccer team is created, consisting of 14 boys aged 10-12 years.
Turramurra 0, West Pymble 0, 12 noon 11th May 1957 at Bannockburn Oval. This was Kissing Point Soccer Club’s first game.
Kissing Point played in the first season as Turramurra but changed to Kissing Point in season 1958. The club grew steadily during the sixties. Originally the club played in grey and pink and were known as the galahs. These colours were chosen as they were the same as the primary school at Turramurra.
1961 – Cricket introduced
George Sheppard and Bob Blyton creates and enters four teams (U14, U12, 2x U10s) in the Hornsby Ku-ring-gai Cricket Association competitions.
1966 – Softball introduced
Marie Noble organises the first girls’ team sport and first softball team for the club.
1967 – Rugby introduced
Dick Foster organises 37 boys into two teams (U8 and U9) and enters the Gordon and Northern District Rugby Union competitions.
The coach, Chuck Beattie, was an ex Eastern Suburbs rugby coach, who introduced the tricolours of red white and blue that soccer also later adopted into their uniform.
Unfortunately, Rugby was eventually dropped in 1972.
1968 – Netball (then, Basketball) introduced
Joy Dean, Elaine O’Keefe, Joy Lancaster, Mel Storer, Rod Woods enter nine basketball teams into the Eastwood-Ryde Basketball Association comps.
There was no locally run competition in Ku-ring-gai and so the teams played outside the area. In that first year of competition, four premierships were won by Kissing Point. However, the locals, tired of travelling long distances to play, took action to establish the Ku-ring-gai Women’s Basketball Association in 1969. This eventually became the Ku-ring-gai Netball Association or KNA. Matches were played on grass courts at various venues including Auluba Oval until 1979 when all competition moved to Canoon Road’s all-asphalt courts.
1970 – Athletics introduced
Bruce Martin spearheads some 60 boys registering for competitions in U10s to U15s, at Rotary Athletics Fields, Chatswood.
In the following year, 1971/1972, Kissing Point joined Hornsby District Little Athletics to compete in running, race walking, hurdling, jumping, throwing, cross country, steeplechase and sack races at Pennant Hills Park.
Senior Athletics (boys only U10s – U15s) continued only to 1975.
Little Athletics continued for 16-years, ceasing in 1986/87.
1982 – Girls’ Soccer Team created
17 girls form an All Age team and enters the Ku-ring-gai District Women’s Soccer Association competition. Catherine Cattell represents the team.
1983 – Baseball introduced
An unofficial team of Kissing Point Softball players (all girls), coached by Ken Coughlan, enters the men’s All Age Ku-ring-gai League competition.
The sport was initially played under the auspices of Ku-ring-gai Baseball, who lent a kit between the two teams. In 1983, at the end of the winter softball season, an unofficial team of KP softballers was registered to play in the summer baseball competition. The all-girl team aged 15 to 26 was registered in the men’s all-age Ku-ring-gai League, in spite of the Club Executive not having endorsed the adoption of baseball as a sport; in spite of not having a Vice President and in spite of the softballers providing their own kit and uniforms. The next season saw baseball officially endorsed at Kissing Point Sports Club.
1996 – Women’s Cricket introduced
Marty Van Rhoon enters an U12s and O12s team into the first Girl’s Competition with the Hornsby Ku-ring-Gai and Hills District Cricket Association.
Extracted from “Kissing Point Sports’ Club – A History” by John Orlovich, and from the Kissing Point Netball Club History website.
Click below to read the complete book of the club’s history by John Orlovich.
Kissing Point Sports Club – A History
By John Orlovich