By Tara Murray
Melton South will further explore its options for the future.
The Ballarat Football Netball League club held a special general meeting on Monday night, where it discussed affiliation and club structure.
Panthers president Brendan Morrissey said the meeting was a good opportunity to talk to members about the challenges the club could face in the future.
He said a motion had been moved for the committee to look at all affiliations.
“We can’t bury our head in the sand,” he said. “We need to take stock.”
“The motion is to look at the best option for sustainability and the viability of the club, long term.”
Morrissey said with the rapid growth in the Melton council area, they had to have a look what was happening around them in other leagues.
He said they would look at everything from seniors through to juniors and what’s the best league for the club moving forward.
The club currently has four junior sides and is finding it difficult to recruit players, with so many other teams around.
Morrissey said they would look at where the club would be in one year, five years and 10 years’ time. He said there was no guarantee they would remain in the BFL long-term.
“We have to look at what is around,” he said.
“We want to be in conversations with leagues around us in the growth corridor. We could have five or six new clubs between us and Deer Park.
“Is there a better model playing in other areas than Ballarat? We don’t know the answers.
“Our members just need to be mindful what is happening towards Melbourne. We don’t want to forget what is happening in our backyard, while we’re only looking in our front yard.”
Morrissey said the netball side of things was important in any move forward. The club has six sides in the seniors and has had to turn players away.
