By JARROD POTTER
ONLY 10 days before applications were due Dandenong City Soccer Club had not decided if it wanted to pursue a National Premier League (NPL) licence.
After putting in countless hours to get the license bid and application completed, the club placed its name on the list of potential licensee and had to wait for the news.
Last week the potential concept turned into a tangible NPL license – with Football Federation Victoria granting Dandenong City its license and ability to make its mark in the inaugural competition this season.
Dandenong City’s senior men’s team will feature in NPL 1 – the second tier of the NPL structure – and square off against other local sides Kingston City and Springvale White Eagles and fight for promotion to the NPL.
Club president George Sabljak said the club was thrilled to play in the premier competition and for the entirety of the structure – from under-12 juniors through to senior men and women – being a priority for developing future Australian soccer stars.
“We are extremely rapt, it was a very exhausting procedure with very little time and we really didn’t know whether we’d be successful or not but we were pretty ecstatic when we finally announced that we were one of the successful licensees,” Sabljak said.”It’s important – not many people are aware that soccer is the most participated sport in the country, bigger than Aussie rules and NRL together – and what we see the NPL is able to do is to continue on with that pathway and produce successful Kewells, Vikduas and guys like that.”
The club is interested in maintain an FFV State Leagues and junior presence outside of the NPL model and was unsure whether the NPL teams would maintain the Dandenong City name or if it would be entered under a new title.
“Absolutely if there’s enough demand for me then we will (have a community model club),” Sabljak said.
“We can’t single out kids that don’t want to play in the NPL.
“We’re still deciding whether we keep the community club as Dandenong City Soccer Club and enter the NPL with a new name but that’s yet to be determined.”
The club is also projecting a record number of junior players after 200 kids attended Dandenong City’s first junior training session for the year.
Any interested kids are welcome to attend training on Wednesday and Friday nights, starting 6.30pm sharp at Frank Holohan Reserve, Baden Powell Drive, Endeavour Hills.
