Ballarat City head coach James Robinson has unveiled a bold vision to further transform Ballarat City into a representative team for Western Victoria.
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The five to seven year plan, which was revealed to The Courier, would see the club draw regional players from the outer reaches of the state to a development hub in Ballarat.
The vision aims to solidify Ballarat as a development pathway to elite football, and stop players in country areas from travelling to Melbourne to further their development.
Robinson said the club aspired to have world-class youth development program, and be a destination of choice for regional players.
"We don't want players travelling to Melbourne or other areas to play at the highest level - we have the opportunity to create this here," he said.
"We want to be a starting point, because right now people don't have regional development centres - clubs just hand-pick players.
"We actually want to be a part of their process because we are regional and our strength is our unity."
We don't want players travelling to Melbourne or other areas to play at the highest level, we have the opportunity to create this here.
- James Robinson
Robinson said Ballarat boasted top-class facilities such as Morshead Park, as well as some of the best schools in the state. He said the city had the resources to make the vision a reality.
He said with Western United set to enter the A-League, a pathway was developing from the grass-roots to the top level.
"With their intent and their engagement of being a representative club of Western Victoria, the pathway is there," he said.
"Our responsibility is now to help elevate the platform because they'll be here for a while.
"We all want the best for the game, so it's about coming together to support the platform of the game to make it as strong as possible."
The vision went beyond the field Robinson said. The club also hoped to foster a culture and environment to ensure its mantra on the pitch is represented off it.
"Coaches don't make good players, committed players make great players and coaches set an environment," Robinson said.
"We are trying to bring everything down to the finer details, to understand what makes a club successful at the highest level."
Eventually, Robinson hoped to get to a point where players could play fee-free so kids didn't have to pay to play the game.
He conceded there were sustainability challenges, but believed there were ways around it though sponsorship and stakeholder engagement.
Robinson said as the A-League continued to grow, Ballarat City could one day situate itself to compete in a national second division competition.
The competition would allow for promotion and relegation between the A-League, however FFA chairman Chris Nikou confirmed earlier this year such a division was unlikely for a number of years.
With Ballarat's Festival of Football now in its second week, Robinson was confident there was a thirst for soccer within the region to bring the vision to life.
