By ADEM SARICAOGLU
BRIMBANK provided for eight best-and-fairest winners out of the Essendon District Football League’s 25 junior divisions this season.
Three Hillside juniors picked up top honours while Keilor and Keilor Park each managed two winners of their own.
New club Burnside Heights also had under-12 gun Jordan Williams pick up the Division Three award, while another nine boys finished runners up from across the region’s six EDFL clubs.
The EDFL has enjoyed a healthy growth throughout the northern parts of Brimbank in recent years with the establishment of Burnside Heights proving a success, while four of the five clubs currently playing senior football in the area will play finals in 2013, starting from this weekend.
While established junior clubs Keilor and Hillside continue to flourish, league general manager Marc Turri was keen to highlight the recent success coming out of Burnside Heights and Keilor Park.
“The growth of Burnside Heights has been really pleasing for the EDFL,” Turri said.
“They’ve been really competitive this year which has been great and it just shows that they’re a team really moving forward.
“Their players are being recognised for their achievements on an individual level but as a collective they’ve performed really well this year.”
Keilor Park only fields two junior teams but did manage to claim both the under-10s and under-12s Division Four best-and-fairest titles in 2013, before going on to win the under-10 grand final on Sunday.
“It’s nice to see the club having some success on the field from a junior perspective,” Turri said.
“They have struggled a little bit over the years for juniors but the current committee are doing a really good job and it’s just a reward to see one of their teams in the grand final this weekend.”
With population growth set to continue in the region, the league expects to establish more clubs in north-western Brimbank, as well as areas east of the Melton Shire, over coming years.
“As the population grows more infrastructure will be required to allow more junior clubs to be developed,” Turri said.
“That’s something AFL Victoria is working with the council pretty closely on, but certainly the growth of Burnside Heights in the last two years does demonstrate the growth potential out there amongst that corridor.”
