'The sport's really buzzing': New regime powering Bowral FC

Struggling for committee members at the start of the year, Barker took up the mantle to lead and then set out to find more volunteers to help steer the club forward.

"With that comes the excitement of building something from scratch a little bit," he said. "It's the opportunity of what can come from it is the appeal and it's a huge club in the sense it's the biggest club in the highlands.

"It's got the biggest junior development in the highlands and we've got record numbers this season with really no effort in doing so - I can't take any credit for that."

Pointing to the success of the Matildas on home soil at the 2023 FIFA World Cup, Barker said there is huge interest in signing up to play football.

While wet weather forced the postponement of the under-6 gala day at Stephens Park on Saturday, May 18, players braved the freezing conditions at other gala days with the under-10s in action at Roberston, the under-9s at Exeter (one team made the final) and the under-8s at Yerrinbool.

"It's more of a reflection of how the sport's really buzzing at the moment," Barker said. "We broke the record (in registrations) by about 20 or 25 per cent so we're rolling with the punches a little bit.

"Having a new committee in there that are fresh and motivated and I think share the same excitement that I have about how far we can go."

Barker said the club has close to 500 members this season and he expects the growth to continue at a rate of 10 per cent each year.

When speaking about the club's aspirations, Barker said plans are underway to make the soccer club as appealing as possible to parents and kids living in the Southern Highlands.

"We want to get a great clubhouse, we've got a brand new uniform and training kit," he said. "That's exciting to kick off and ideally appeal to the whole Highlands area.

"It's a brand really, people in Sydney, businesses in Sydney, know the Highlands and they know Bowral and you can't help but think of Sir Donald Bradman.

"For me Bowral embodies that. But for me it's a brand that should have been doing a lot better from a club point of view, from a sponsorship point of view and from an opportunity point of view."