By JARROD POTTER
THE Lightning is in.
The City of Casey based football club has made its choice. It will affiliate with the Southern Football Netball League and will put a senior men’s team into the 2016 Division 3 competition.
After a meeting with Southern FNL officials on Monday night, the club decided the league was the right fit as it expands from just juniors into the senior football ranks.
Lyndhurst president Andrew King said the club joined the Southern FNL as opposed to South East FNL, Nepean or the VAFA as it geographically and divisionally suited the club perfectly.
“We felt that was probably the best fit for us for the time being in our early stages,” King said.
“They’ve got divisions that we think we can be competitive in, and geographically probably the best fit for us at the moment.”
The club has yet to figure out if it will put a Thirds side into the competition alongside its Division 3 side and will host a public meeting at Marriott Waters Reserve on Monday 19 October at 7.30pm to gauge numbers and lock down its total playing list heading into next season.
“That’s really a call to arms to have everyone there that’s interested in playing or being official,” King said.
“We’ll have a coach appointed by then, and we’ll need to know our total numbers at the end of that day to dictate what division we’d go into.
“We’ve had 20-25 training for the last three months, so the minimum we’ll have is definitely one team, so it will definitely go ahead.”
For people in the Lyndhurst area wanting to hunt down the red leather, the club has encouraged all to come along and give Lightning football a crack.
“Everyone is welcome to come down and have a crack for sure,” King said.
“We’re in a development stage really – the 24 or so that we have at the moment are young blokes that have played a bit of footy and have been training over the winter.
“Definitely know there’s a few older heads that haven’t trained but expressed an interest in playing and will complement the younger brigade.”
Lyndhurst Football and Netball Club is now searching for an inaugural senior coach for the following position for the Southern Football League Division 3 2016 season. Applications should be directed to Lyndhurst Football Netball Club vice-president Isaak Iliadis at vicepresident@lfnc.com.au and for more information on the club visit the Lightning’s website www.lfnc.com.au or its Facebook page facebook.com/lfnclightning.
Other positions with the senior team – runners, team manager and trainers – are also open to application.
Lyndhurst is the third club in the City of Casey region to join Southern FNL in the last five years, following the path taken by Endeavour Hills and Hallam.
