Soccer club on a new Wave

Local soccer club Surfside Waves is now officially known as Ocean Grove Soccer Club following a “difficult” decision to rebrand itself after negotiations with the ATO.

It all began back in November when the not-for-profit club, which was founded in 1996, realised it had likely breached the threshold for GST registration, which could potentially trigger a please explain from the government.

However, Ocean Grove president Craig Wright said the club soon realised, when it tried to update its details online at the myGov website, it didn’t have any passwords for access.

“We couldn’t do anything,” Wright said. “We didn’t have any passwords, we didn’t know who originally set the club up 30 years ago. We couldn’t get hold of the email address they used, obviously they used their personal one at the time.”

With the ATO sending details to the email and physical address it had on file, the club was forced to speak to ex-presidents and lifelong members to track down the right person.

“We found we were getting nowhere,” he said.

When the club decided to reregister with a new ABN, it discovered the Surfside Waves moniker was already taken as a trading name. And so after a committee meeting at the start of the year, the Ocean Grove Soccer Club was born.

However, Wright can only see silver livings in the decision, with a new, clearer identity and no longer being mistaken for the Surf Coast Football Club.

The club’s badge has evolved with the new name but will still pay homage to Waves in its design, while its nickname and club colours will remain.

The club could potentially apply for grants it had previously been ineligible for or unsuccessful with, or open itself up to new sponsorship deals with businesses in Ocean Grove and across the Bellarine.