By Meg Kennedy<\/p>\n
Entering footy finals are exciting enough, but for Springbank Football Netball Club there is even more cause for celebration.
\nThe club\u2019s ten-teams are headed to the finals this weekend, a first-ever event for the club. Teams include the A, B, C, 17&U, 15&U and 13&U netball sides alongside the Seniors, Reserves, Under 18 and 15 football sides.
\nThe six netball teams and four football teams will compete in the preliminary finals in the Central Highlands Football and Netball Leagues, this Saturday.
\nThe momentous achievement has got the entire club buzzing, with President Patrick O\u2019Neil telling the Moorabool News that \u201ceverybody is naturally very excited\u201d for the games.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s great to have ten teams in there, but we all still feel we\u2019ve got a lot of work to do,\u201d he said.
\n\u201cHopefully we get a fair few of our teams to push deep into the finals \u2013 we don\u2019t want to go there just to make up the numbers.\u201d
\nThe event is even more special for the Springbank Tigers, after the club went through \u201csome dark days\u201d for a period, struggling to increase membership numbers.
\nAs Springbank doesn\u2019t have a primary school, many junior players come from the surrounding towns in the district.
\nBut Mr O\u2019Neil sights the recent and rapid increase of junior numbers, who \u201chave been really good this year,\u201d as a testament to the families \u2013 both past and present \u2013 who are part of the club.
\n\u201cAs well as the long-unwavering commitment of the families that have never left the club, it\u2019s been fantastic over the last few years to see a few of the old families come back; the sons and daughters of ladies and men who played both footy and netball years ago, which is really exciting,\u201d he said.
\nMr O\u2019Neil thanked all the volunteers in the club, as well as \u201ca pro-active committee\u201d, saying that \u201cit is a big commitment.\u201d
\n\u201cWithout the volunteers, the place just doesn\u2019t run.\u201d
\nSpringbank FNC will compete on the court and on the turf in the CHFL Preliminary Finals from Saturday 17 August.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Meg Kennedy Entering footy finals are exciting enough, but for Springbank Football Netball Club there is even more cause for celebration. The club\u2019s ten-teams are headed to the finals this weekend, a first-ever event for the club. Teams include the A, B, C, 17&U, 15&U and 13&U netball sides alongside the Seniors, Reserves, Under […]<\/p>\n