Melton South will explore its future following a general meeting on Monday night.
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The Panthers discussed affiliation and club structure, the members voting in support of the club exploring its options, leaving open the possibility that it could depart the Ballarat Football Netball League at some stage in the coming years.
President Brenda Morrissey said it would be “silly” for the club to not explore its options. He said the main factors behind the decision was the geographical situation Melton South finds itself in. With growth areas of Caroline Springs, Rockbank, just to name a couple, developing around the club – options for players, particularly juniors, are only getting more vast.
The fact the Panthers have to travel so frequently to Ballarat is proving a hurdle when trying to recruit players. While Morrissey added another key factor was surrounding club’s “availability to spend more” on recruits, given the differing salary caps from league to league.
“We need to look around for due diligence purposes,” Morrissey said.
“You’d be silly if you didn’t, any club that isn’t looking around, especially where we sit with the demographic and how many different leagues are around us.
“We’ve got huge growth coming between us and Deer Park...but we’re still going to be heading to Ballarat.
“It is hard to recruit players to play in Ballarat...that’s just part of it.
“We can’t stop what’s going to grow three kilometres away from us, it’s just the demographic of the area.”
Morrissey said it was important the club was transparent with its members.
After winning just one match and finishing on the bottom of the ladder this season, the Panthers are eager to explore their options in a bid to find success. This would be an all-round club exploration, juniors and netball all part of the discussion.
Morrissey said there was no timeframe on a decision, the club simply looking down the track to ensure it does what is best for the club.
“We’re not winning, we’re on the bottom of the ladder, what do you do? You can’t keep doing the same thing and getting the same answer.
“If you’re going to have a points system and a salary cap, only one thing beats that and that’s bringing your own players up. We’re being very open about it to our members, we need to show that we’re doing something to try and be successful.
“We’ve just got to look at it and weigh it up for five years time, or 10 years time.”