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MAIDEN Gully Marist will join the Bendigo District Cricket Association's under-18 competition in the upcoming season.
The Lions' successful application now gives the club a junior pathway from Master Blaster through to under-18s within the BDCA, while their three senior teams will all compete in the Castlemaine District Cricket Association following their admission last week.
The Lions moving their senior teams from the Emu Valley Cricket Association to the CDCA will allow them to utilise the new turf wicket at Marist College.
The Lions' new under-18 team will also use the Marist College turf wicket.
"We're really excited at the opportunity to enter a team into the BDCA under-18 competition," Maiden Gully president Neil Byers said on Thursday.
"You look back to our under-16A team that won the premiership two years ago and there are eight of those players who are now playing at BDCA clubs.
"We won't put any pressure on them, but we'll make contact with those boys to see if they are interested in coming back and playing with us.
"Now that we know we're in we'll go through the process of seeing what we've got coming up from the under-16s last year and which former players are interested in coming back and from those numbers we'll work out if we need any other kids.
"It's a step forward for us and so much has happened at the club in the past week with the move to Castlemaine to get our players onto the turf wicket and now getting an under-18 team accepted into Bendigo, which we've been trying for the past three or four years."
It's a step forward for us and so much has happened at the club in the past week with the move to Castlemaine to get our players onto the turf wicket and now getting an under-18 team accepted into Bendigo, which we've been trying for the past three or four years.
- Neil Byers - Maiden Gully Marist president
The addition of Maiden Gully Marist will give the BDCA under-18 competition at least two new teams from last season, with Bendigo United also confirming it will be re-entering in 2020-21.
"With our fluctuating numbers in this competition from year to year the board has agreed to allow MGMCC to enter a team in the under-18 competition and sees it as a positive that we have a team committing to this age group," BDCA president Travis Harling wrote to clubs informing them of the decision.
"I appreciate some clubs may be thinking their juniors need to follow their seniors and by the age of 18 their players need to decide to stay at Maiden Gully (previously on carpet, now on turf) or move to a BDCA club to play on turf.
"There are a lot of pros and cons with this situation, but at the end of the day if they have the numbers, facilities and the vision to join the BDCA then the board sees the need to provide the club an opportunity.
"The board is providing this opportunity to enter a team that supports the BDCA competition and also supports a club who has shown every intention the BDCA is where they want to play their cricket in the future."
The BDCA has a target start date of October 31 for its 2020-21 season, which is shaping as being an all one-day competition due to COVID uncertainty.
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