A former Ovens and King Football Netball League club says they see no reason Bright shouldn’t be permitted to become the newest member of the Tallangatta and District football and netball competitions in 2027.

United Bright Football Netball Club is currently going through the process of transferring across leagues, from the O&K to TDFL and TDNA, in order to safeguard the retention of their junior footballers and netballers through the grades.

Beechworth competed in the O&K until transferring to neighbouring TDFL in 2004, for exactly the same reasons Bright is lobbying for more than 20 years later.

It's actually the second bite of the apple for Bright, with a previous bid to join the TDFL/TDNA in 2012 unsuccessful.

Having gone through the process themselves, former Beechworth president Adam Fendyk and current co-president Emma Carey said they sympathised with Bright’s situation, and were right behind the proposal.

“Our transfer was primarily around the juniors,” Fendyk said.

“The O&K at the time had thirds playing to some extent, the teams were dropping off and within a number of years of us leaving there were a couple of amalgamations, and the number of teams dropped.

“Our kids might’ve been going to Bright one week and we were playing in Chiltern or vice versa.

“We saw the Tallangatta league had a strong junior presence in both 14s and 17s, and the under 12s are playing now too, so we’ve gone from two and a half teams on a Saturday to five.

“At club level, we saw almost immediate financial benefit, having more teams playing on the one day in football and the increased games of netball back in the day.

“Membership grew straight away, of course, and gates and catering and bar turnover along the way with more spectators turning up to watch more teams.”

While some detractors cite increased travel times or the uneven competition with 13 clubs, it does not change the fact Bright is a strong club with plenty to offer the TDFL.

Carey said Bright had done their homework, and had been working to ingratiate themselves within their potential new home league.

“They actually came out, when we were at Rutherglen, they came out, just doing the rounds on their bye weekend to try and catch as many clubs as they could just to let us know of their intentions in person to seek support from local clubs,” she said.

“They’ve been sending us a bit of information, keeping clubs in the loop.

“I know they went out to the opening of the courts at Sandy Creek to try and engage netball as well.

“They’re doing it for the same reasons we did it, we came in for the exact same reasons, so our committee supported it.

“Having an extra bye, if I’m honest, that’s great, we don’t see that as a negative, another rest weekend is good.”

The TDFL will meet on Monday 20 July to vote on the proposal.

If accepted, the TDFL must lodge an Intent to Accept Form to the O&K, AFL Victoria and Netball Victoria by 5pm on 31 July, on receipt of which the governing bodies have 14 days to notify the leagues of the objection process.

If the O&K objects to the transfer, it will go to an appeals process.

Fendyk said he was confident the TDFL would vote to accept Bright’s application.

“From the people I’ve spoken to, there seems to be general acceptance that this is a good thing, but you never know until the vote,” he said.

“It would appear from the outside the TDFL executive is quite keen and supportive, and some of the clubs I’ve spoken to seem supportive as well.

“It just goes to the strength of the TDFL, the recognition the TDFL is doing something right – they’ve got the juniors in place, they’ve got a good competition going.

“I personally think the addition of Bright will be fantastic for the TDFL and TDNA.”