MARTY Busch Reserve will be country footy central for the state next Sunday.
The Sebastopol versus Ballarat match has been designated the Victorian Country Football League’s game of the month.
Former Essendon great Terry Daniher will be guest speaker at the pre-game luncheon and at afternoon tea, while his Hawthorn counterpart Peter Knights will also rev up the crowd.
“The VCFL got in touch with the Ballarat Football League about having the game of the month within the league and they offered it to us.
“We welcomed it with open arms,” Sebastopol president John Lyon said.
“We are hoping for well over 100 people to attend the pre-game luncheon, alone.
“It is a dual gate game with our juniors, so we’d be expecting a really good crowd. We’ve got 200 of our own kids and Ballarat will have about that as well, so we’d be expecting a crowd of over 1500.”
Lyon predicted there would be a carnival-like atmosphere at the game, which is the only BFL game that Sunday.
The entertainment for younger footballers won’t end with the final siren of the juniors.
Daniher will also conduct a football kicking competition for the kids at half time of the senior match.
“They’ve asked us to do something a bit different from simply having a little league game at half-time, to allow more of the kids to be involved,” Lyon said.
“We’re really behind the idea of these combined junior and senior fixtures.
“At Sebastopol there is no such thing as a junior club and a senior club. We are one club with one committee.”
In addition to backing the game of the month, VCFL sponsor WorkSafe Victoria will also join JAL Contractors as Sebastopol’s jumper sponsor for the remainder of the year.
“We told WorkSafe we had lost our jumper sponsor for the year, so they made a contribution to help us through to the end of the year,” Lyon said.