By DAVID NAGEL
A NEW south eastern football netball league will be formed in 2015 after the Mornington Peninsula Nepean Football League (trading as PCN Sports Alliance) and Casey Cardinia Football Netball League clubs decided to split.
In a meeting held on Thursday night, the PCN Sports Alliance board decided to waive rule 14.1 – regarding the need to give 12 months’ notice before a club withdraws from the league – which paves the way for the departing nine clubs to form their own competition.
Grievances including poor communication, a lack of trust, exorbitant fees, poor strategic direction and a lack of service and attention to the CCFL clubs formed the basis of the clubs’ decision to break away from the league it has been affiliated with for nearly 20 years.
The breakaway group-of-nine has proposed to call the newly formed organisation the “South East Football Netball League” and it will comprise the departing Casey Cardinia clubs – Beaconsfield, Berwick, Cranbourne, Doveton, Hampton Park, Narre Warren, Pakenham, ROC and Tooradin-Dalmore – while Keysborough has joined the Southern Football League Division 2 competition for next year.
“This is what we were aiming for, to force the PCN board to stand up and take notice of what’s best for football in our region,” spokesman for the clubs, Narre Warren’s outgoing president Kahl Heinze said.
The change of leagues has also been welcomed by AFL South East region general manager Jeremy Bourke, who was excited by the prospect of the proposed SEFNL working alongside the South East Juniors and AFL South East under the one roof at Casey Fields.
“There are significant opportunities with this, for both junior and senior football and netball to work closer together,” Bourke said.
“It will allow us to define resources to this league, to this region, and to expand participation in one of the fastest growth corridors in Australia.”
PCNCA’s decision puts to an end a process started by the Casey Cardinia clubs in early October, when they sent a letter of intent to withdraw from the MPNFL.
“Initially, I think the clubs were up for a fight, but I was never interested in talking to the clubs in tit for tat conversation via email,” PCNSA chief executive Jeff Jones said.
“It’s always been about sitting around the table and hearing and listening to what the clubs had to say. All that information was tabled on Thursday and that was used as the basis behind the board’s decision. This is not about what football looks like tomorrow, next week, or even next year, it’s about a common sense approach to the needs of the game in the future.”
The new competition will be known as the South East Football Netball League and operate out of Casey Fields.
