Aintree Football Club will call the Western Region Football League home.
The WRFL last week announced that the existing clubs had voted for the club to join the competition.
As reported by Star Weekly, the club had been set up to cater for the growing number of children in Aintree taking up the sport.
WRFL chief executive Ritchie Hinton said the league was excited to welcome Aintree to the competition.
“The club is on the border of our area and it makes sense for them to be part of the WRFL,” he said.
“We have been involved with them from early on and developed a relationship.
“We should be using them as a blueprint on how to build a club.
“Start with Auskick and then junior football and hopefully move into senior football.”
Having had Auskick the last two years, Aintree president Nathan Brama said it was the natural progression to start to have teams and form a club.
He said there had been eight months of work with Melton council and AFL Victoria as they sorted out the name, team colours, jersey and team song.
A decision about what competition the Giants play in is expected in the next couple of weeks.
Brama said they were keen to have at least two sides next season, while seeking interest from four different age groups. All teams will be mixed teams.
“We will still run Auskick and will look to have under-8s and under-10s,” he said. “We have opened it up for under-12s and under-14 and depending on numbers we’re happy to run a combined side.”
Brama said that the club had decided to join the WRFL over the Riddell District Football League, based on the demographic of the players at the club and feedback of members.
The club sits on the border of the two competitions.
While in the initial stages, the club has set some goals for the next few years as the club and the area grows.
“For the 2024 season we want to have an all girls team,” Brama said. “For the 2025 season we want to be in the position to have kids from five to 18 playing football in Aintree.
“We’re looking at senior football for both men’s and women’s in five years and we’ll also be looking at netball.”
