03/09/2026
❤️💛🖤 THANK YOU, SYMON 🖤💛❤️
Last night, we received some news that none of us were quite ready for…
After five incredible years as part of the Stokes Valley junior FC family, our Junior Director of Football, Symon King, has decided to step down from his role.
And while we’re incredibly sad to see Symon step away, we want to take this opportunity to say thank you for everything he has given to our club, our players and our community. ❤️
For the past five years, Symon has given so much of himself to this club. His time, his energy, his ideas, his passion, his patience… and probably more hours than any of us could ever count.
Symon has been such a huge part of the SVJFC journey, and when we asked him what some of his favourite highlights have been over the years, this is what he came up with…
⚽ The U10 girls — in his first year at the club, every time he watched them play they wouldn’t score a goal… so he’d leave at half time… and they’d go on to win the game. 😂 We’re still not sure what that says about Symon!
💦 The invention of the dunk tank — one of the many ideas that somehow became a reality at SVJFC!
⚽ Watching our kids grow — seeing their personalities develop alongside their football skills, including some who started with us at First Kicks and are now playing U10 football.
🏆 Coaching several U7/U8 teams at tournaments — and somehow always managing to finish ahead of the other coaches. 😝
👦 Creating our first U17 team in 20 years — an incredible milestone for the club and something Symon can be incredibly proud of.
❤️ Making Stokes Valley FC bigger and better for the next generations of kids — leaving the club in a stronger place for the children who will come through our doors in the years ahead.
And, of course…
😂 Surviving the girls picking on him!
We’re not sure which achievement deserves the biggest trophy. 🏆😂
For anyone who knows us, you’ll know exactly who “the girls” are — and if you’ve ever heard Symon say it, you’ll know that’s what he calls us too. 😂
But jokes aside, Symon’s contribution to Stokes Valley FC goes far beyond “the girls” picking on him!
Symon cared.
He cared about the kids.
He cared about their football.
He cared about their experiences.
He cared about our coaches and families.
And he cared deeply about the future of Stokes Valley FC.
For five years, he has given countless hours, energy, ideas, passion and probably a few grey hairs along the way! 😂
He has been there to watch children take their very first steps onto a football field, and then watched those same children grow into confident young players.
He has helped create opportunities that didn’t exist before, pushed our junior club forward and worked hard to make sure the generations coming after us have an even better club to call home.
And that is a legacy worth celebrating. ❤️
So while we’re genuinely gutted to be losing Symon from the Junior Director role, we don’t want this post to be a sad goodbye.
We want it to be a THANK YOU. ❤️
Thank you, Symon, for five incredible years.
Thank you for the laughs, the crazy ideas, the hard work, the commitment, the late nights, the weekends and all the countless hours behind the scenes that most people never see.
Thank you for helping make Stokes Valley FC bigger, stronger and better.
Thank you for helping create a club where kids can play, grow, make friends, build confidence and create memories that they’ll carry with them for years to come.
And perhaps Crysta summed it up best:
“The majority of this committee, myself included, have never known Stokes Valley without you, so there is definitely going to be a Symon shaped hole in our club for a while.”
There are about 4,000 things we could say about you, some of which many of us probably never needed to know about you…
We will never look at a wētā the same way. 😂
And she’s right.
For so many of us, Symon has simply always been there. He has been part of the fabric of our junior club for the past five years, and his absence will be felt in ways we probably won’t fully realise until the season rolls around without him.
He will be missed. More than he probably realises. ❤️
Your fingerprints are all over this club, and the impact you have made will continue long after you step away from this role.
While we’re incredibly sad to see you go, we hope you look back on these five years and feel incredibly proud of what you’ve been a part of.
From First Kicks to U17s.
From tournaments to dunk tanks.
From big ideas to committee chaos.
From watching little kids take their first steps onto the field to helping build opportunities for those same kids as they grow.
Five years. Countless memories. One hell of a legacy. ❤️💛🖤
You may be stepping away from the Junior Director role, but you’ll always be part of the Stokes Valley junior FC family.
And don’t worry…
We’ll still find ways to pick on you. 😝😂
From all of us at SVJFC — thank you for everything, Symon. ❤️💛🖤
