By Trevor Jackson
ANY doubts about the future of Casterton Sandford in the Western Border football league and netball association were put to rest this week, with the club voting to keep the status quo.
Some changes have taken place, with Dylan Ayton taking on the president’s role, while Kane Forbes will be his vice-president.
The Cats have struggled since the COVID-19 restrictions put community sport on hold last year, as have all other clubs.
However, with border restrictions in place and several personnel unable to cross the state lines to train, a move to a Victorian league was eventually floated – the South West District league in particular – but Ayton said it would have been a sad outcome to see that happen.
“In the last eight years I have been here I have pushed the Western Border as the best footy around,” he said.
“It was really sad to think it could be a chance to change – it was getting a fair bit of traction.
“Some people had very valid points – it is hard for our juniors and our netballers have struggled – but once we were gone there was no coming back.”
The problem Ayton faced was he had signed to coach Kalangadoo for the 2021 season.
However, he said talks with Magpies officials helped put everything in motion and he returned to Casterton.
“I let Kalangadoo know what was going on then came back,” Ayton said.
“Kalangadoo has been amazing to me.
“They ring up now to see how everything is going here – that is the care they have for their people.”
Of course Ayton and Forbes still had to sell their plan to the Casterton Sandford committee, which was anything but an easy task but in the end it was a decisive outcome.
“It was tough to get people on board to stay in the Western Border but we got through the vote,” Ayton said.
“The worst case scenario is this COVID might happen for another year, which would hurt us.
“If we were in the South West league (last year) we would have missed out on footy anyway.
“We can’t change our whole history because of the COVID scare.”
Ayton praised the work of outgoing president Nathan Fidler, who he said along with the whole committee had worked hard through a tough time to ensure the future of the club.
He said the WBFL had been understanding and president Michael Summers had worked well with the club through all the issues it faced.
Ayton and Forbes now have a huge task to ensure the club remains relevant in the WBFL, with netball also a big focus.
A senior coach has not yet been announced but Ayton and Forbes are in talks, with a decision pending.
“That is the biggest decision we have to make and we can’t afford to mess it up,” he said.
“It might be someone in-house who deserves an opportunity, or it may someone we are talking to at the moment.
“We are not panicking.”
For Forbes it was an easy decision to take on the vice-president’s role, with his passion for the club clear.
Having grown up in the region and played his junior football at Casterton, he said he was 100pc behind the club whichever way the vote had gone and his desire to keep the club afloat was never in doubt.
“We are both passionate about the club and want to see it go ahead long into the future, to watch our kids play and our friends’ kids play,” Forbes said.
“It was a pretty easy decision really.
“As in any small community town, footy is the heartbeat of the town.
“You walk past someone in the street and they want to talk about the footy.
“It keeps the place going.”
Forbes said he has no doubt about the magnitude of the job facing him and Ayton but was simply taking it as it comes.
“There are some unanswered questions about COVID and other things as well,” he said.
“But I’m a firm believer in jumping each hurdle as it comes.
“There is no point stressing about things you can’t control.
“For me it is about getting things in place internally and if two months down the track one of the governments says the borders are closed, we work through that and work out what is best for the club.”
In the end Forbes said one pleasing factor of the whole scenario was the vote to remain in the Western Border league was not really close, but more one-sided to remain as is.
