MYRTLEFORD has taken a signif- icant step towards ensuring the club remains in the Ovens and Murray Football-Netball League with its board of management more than doubling in size from the recent annual meeting.
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The Saints board has grown from five to 12 with a further position to be filled in a move welcomed by the O and M which is determined to remain a 10-team competition in 2010.
“After the initial annual meeting where five members put their hands up, the club has been buoyed with interest of key Myrtleford people since,” Saints president Paul Maskell said.
“To use a football cliche, a week is a long time in football and the inclusion of a mix of people with skill sets of football, business and financial will add to the credibility of the Myrtleford Football-Netball Club.”
Newcomers to the board include Alpine Eagles under-18 coach Michael Quirk, Greg Matthews, Greg Knobel, Scott Matheson, Brendan Breen, Ben Dussin and Brett Gunther.
They join Maskell, Mandy Morrison, Paul Muraca and Simon and Alan Crisp, who were elected to the board at the club’s recent annual meeting brought forward to start the resurrection of the club from two successive winless seasons at senior level.
The Saints’ board members presented their portfolios to O and M chairman Greg Claney and general manager Tom O’Connor on Monday night.
Bolstering player stocks is now top priority and the club has started discussions with Morris Medallist Brad Murray about returning from SANFL club Port Adelaide as well as potential recruits in Tasmania.
The Saints are also hoping to secure players who graduate from the Alpine Eagles under-18 team which is playing in its first O and M finals series this year.
“The league is encouraged by the commitment of board members entrusted with the leadership of the club,” O’Connor said.
“It’s been a major step forward since the annual meeting when there wasn’t a great deal of change to the previous leadership.
“The league now believes the club is in good hands to move forward into 2010.
“There is still plenty of work ahead of the Myrtleford Football-Netball Netball Club board, but the sharing of the workload across key portfolios is a real positive step for the club.
Maskell said the club would also focus on securing the funding for the facility development at the Ablett Pavilion.
A merger with Ovens and King league club Bright for next season appears unlikely at this stage.