By ADEM SARICAOGLU
BURNSIDE Heights is now less than three months away from making its senior debut in the Essendon District Football League.
The Bears have been impressive since indicating their intention to enter the league’s senior ranks in the middle of last year, gaining formal approval shortly after the season’s climax.
With senior coach Shane Rayment and club president Justin Peagram at the helm, the EDFL’s newest club has surprised everyone with its successful off-season.
While it’s much too early to judge just how Burnside Heights will go in Division Two, the signs, so far at least, are looking very good.
“I think there are 29 that have officially signed and we’ve got a commitment from another 25 to 30 players that we’ll look to tie up once pre-season kicks off,” Rayment told Star.
Rayment then said he still expects that number to increase even more in coming months.
“The issue of signing guys won’t be a problem, but from a recruiting point of view we’ve still got young guys that are still contacting us and other players that are contacting us,” he explained.
“But we’re just happy to sign anybody that wants to play a game of footy and that shows a little bit of commitment to what we’re doing.”
Burnside Heights will host East Sunbury in round one during the first weekend of April and will most likely go into the clash as favourite against the club that couldn’t score a win in its inaugural season last year.
While Rayment believes the “bigger and better sides” will be too good for the Bears in 2014, he hopes to be able to string a couple of wins together throughout the year.
However the Bears are aware instant success is not a necessity for a fledging club, and for now Rayment and his team hopes to build a strong, enjoyable culture for their growing playing group.
“It’s just a really positive energy around the place and everybody that’s involved with the club at this point in time is working really hard and diligently,” Rayment said.
“It’s probably the first time in a while I’m really enjoying what’s happening within the inner sanctum of a footy club, which is fantastic.”
An announcement on inaugural club captains will be made closer to the start of the new season.
