SFNL AFFILIATION APPROVED

We are pleased to announce that our application for affiliation with the Southern Football Netball League has been approved by AFL Victoria and the club will be fielding Senior, Reserves, Under 19 and Women’s teams in the SFNL in season 2018.

President Mal Lewis expressed his delight at the club’s acceptance into the SFNL and the opportunities it presents for the club’s junior players to follow a pathway into senior football.

"The club undertook a review of options available for senior pathways in early 2016 and whilst it was evident that a number of players transferred to other nearby senior clubs, the majority of our junior players chose not to continue their involvement in football and this was at odds with clubs that had a formal pathway to senior football in place. A working party was subsequently formed and after a lot of hard work, we now have a pathway for our junior players with the establishment of a senior club. We considered all options available to us, particularly as a start-up club and quite simply the SFNL emerged as the competition of choice given the divisional football structure in place" Lewis said. "The members of the working group have all been associated with the junior club, so they were aware of the culture and values already in place and we have positioned the senior club to build on these values. Ultimately, we are looking to develop our juniors through to senior football within the established club community, which will provide benefits to everyone." "We have been extremely fortunate to have the likes of Gavin Artico (who will be overseeing our football department) and Jason Watts providing insight and guidance throughout the process, including recruitment of coaches and support staff. Getting the coaching appointments right was critical for the club, particularly given the strong focus on development the club is looking for and we are delighted to have Chris Lacey (former Springvale Districts Reserves coach) sign with us as Senior Coach for 2018 – 2020. We've got a great football person in Chris and his focus on development shone through, which was a perfect fit for us." "Nathan Coy (Burnside Heights & South Mornington) has been appointed as Reserves coach with Geoff Turner taking charge of the Under 19’s having previously been associated with Under 19’s at Mornington."

"This is an exciting time for the club and a great opportunity for sponsors to get on board and get behind us in our inaugural year and help us build something pretty special."