Sebastopol has been more than a football and netball club for brothers Toby and Ben Hutt.
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The Burra has been an extension of their family.
Sebastopol has been there for the Hutts in the good and tough times.
The club will always hold a special place in brothers' hearts for what it did for their family when their mother and club stalwart Maree - a netball premiership player with Sebastopol - died in 2013 after a battle with cancer.
They still talk with gratitude as to how the club community reached out to and supported their father and veteran of 200 games Michael, and younger sister Libby, who was just nine years of age at the time, as well as themselves at the time.
So when Toby, 23, and Ben, 19, run out side-by-side for Sebastopol to take on East Point in the Ballarat Football League grand final at Mars Stadium on Saturday, they will not only be primed to go as athletes, but also be wearing their hearts on their sleeves.
And the rest of the family will not be far away as Sebastopol pursues a fairytale outcome under the guidance of coach Leigh Hutchinson.
Their father is a senior runner, while Libby, who made her A grade netball debut this year, will be barracking hard from the sidelines.
The Hutt boys have played all their football with Sebastopol and although they have experienced what it is like to play in battling sides, they have also played in grand finals - Toby in the under-14s and Ben in the under-12s.
However, there were times in latter years as they progressed into senior they wondered whether they would get a chance to again reach those heights.
While there is always hope, Toby - a tall, lead key forward - admits he did not expect an opportunity to play off for a senior premiership would come so quickly.
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He said there had been enormous growth in the player group since the arrival of Tony Lockyer and a quality group of recruits.
Toby said the whole player group had developed into a tightly knit bunch.
While right now he is eager to get into action and do his best, he did get a major scare early in the season which threatened to derail his year.
He broke a leg - coincidentally against East Point in round four - and there were some fears he had ruptured ligaments.
That outcome would have ended his season, but fortunately he escaped this and returned to the senior line-up in round 15.
Ben, who is one of only five to have played in all 19 games, said it was an extremely special time for the club after so many hard years and great to be sharing with teammates who had also worked their way through junior ranks and spent extended periods toiling away in senior ranks.
He said it was rewarding to be able deliver better times for those who had stuck by the club.
"There's really good energy around the place. Everyone is up and about," Ben said.
