EAST Point Football Netball Club will unite two separate junior teams for the 2016 Ballarat Football Netball League season.
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The junior East Ballarat Football Netball Club and girls’ Golden Point Football Club will now fall under the East Point banner, following in the footsteps of the senior football team back in 2001.
They will be officially known as the East Point Bulldogs and East Point Dragons, maintaining their existing team nicknames.
East Point Football Netball Club executive president Neville Kent said the change had been years in the pipeline, making for a perfect fit as a joint entity.
“We are committed to developing the East Point brand into one of the most recognised sporting forces across the Ballarat region,” he said.
“This move maintains our cultural identities and linkages with our respective clubs proud history whilst establishing the East Point franchise within our community.”
The club will continue to have three bases – Eastern Oval for the senior football and netball, Russell Square for the junior boys and White Flat for the youth girls footy.
It is a unique situation in the BFNL, with no other club based across three different areas.
“Our newly created East Point franchise offers a unique position,” Kent said.
“Three clubs, three locations, all based in the eastern region of Ballarat, connected by a golden triangle, given Ballarat’s rich history.”
The merger officially brings an end to the historic Golden Point and East Ballarat names.
Golden Point was established in 1902 and East Ballarat in 1885. The senior Golden Point and East Ballarat arms merged in 2001, but the junior clubs remained separate at the time because they were both so strong and able to support themselves in the league.
However, the Pointies have not fielded a junior boys team for the last three seasons, with just a youth girls side remaining.
Now, the three sides will all wear the blue, red and white, with a kangaroo (seniors), bulldog (junior football and netball) and dragon (youth girls) on the front.
There is also talk of developing a senior women’s football side in the future.
BFNL operations manager Aaron Nunn said the hoped the merger would strengthen not only the club, but the league as a whole.
“I think it will help them as a club, it will give them a real identity and people will know they are the club of from the eastern side of Ballarat,” he said.
