The committee of the new Strathfieldsaye Football-Netball Club announced last week it would pursue entry into the BFL for next year.

If successful, Strathfieldsaye would become the first club to join the BFL since the Ballarat-based North City gained entry for the 2006 season.

Despite signing a 10-year agreement, North City lasted just two years in the BFL before this season being accepted into the Ballarat Football League.

The Strathfieldsaye situation is similar to that North City faced three years ago.

As was the case with North City, Strathfieldsaye has teams competing in junior competitions, but no senior club for the players to continue playing with after they become too old for juniors.

Paul Leahy was the president of North City three years ago when it was successful in forming a senior club to join the Bendigo league.

Asked yesterday what the number one piece of advice he would give to the Strathfieldsaye committee in its push to enter the BFL would be, Leahy, who remains the president of North City, answered: "They need to be patient and have faith in what they are doing, and they need to have a solid development plan in place for both on and off the field for the long term.

"We are only three years in front of them, but what they do over the next couple of years needs to be done with a view of five to 10 years down the track.

"Running a senior club is totally different from a junior club, but from our point of view, I would say we are three years down the track of developing into a good, solid senior club."

Like Strathfieldsaye, North City looked at options of entering a minor or major league.

And as is the case with Strathfieldsaye, the Northies believed the best way forward was to take the plunge directly into major league football.

The Northies’ two years in the BFL showed just how difficult it is for a newly-formed club to be competitive in a major league, with North City, despite being part of the successful North Ballarat Football Club model, winning just five of its 36 games.

"I believe Strathfieldsaye has gone the right way in going into a major league," Leahy said.

"We probably could have gone into a district league, but we didn’t feel that was the right way to go with the young talent we had, and as I understand it, Strathfieldsaye is in the same position as having some really good young players coming through.

"I’m sure the people involved with Strathfieldsaye are aware they probably need to look at a successful model (to base its around) and really get into setting up job descriptions and getting the off-field infrastructure of where they want to be in the future in place and start working towards that."

Securing finance through sponsors will be one of the key areas Strathfieldsaye will continue to focus on in the coming months.

The committee expects it to cost twice as much to operate a club in the BFL, as opposed to the Heathcote District Football League, which was the other option considered.

"With the financial aspect, what they need to do is set themselves little targets as they go along," Leahy said.

"With sponsorship, which is an area Strathfieldsaye will really need to look at, we view it as a partnership with the community, whereby we go out and target businesses who fit with the philosophy of our club and understand what we’re all about.

"Three years down the track, we have grown our sponsorship area.

"Another area they really need to get a structure in place for is the volunteer co-ordination.

"It’s very important to have your volunteers organised and understanding their actual roles, whether it be for match-days or football or netball operations.

"They really need someone who has skills in developing job descriptions and delegating the right people to the right spots."

Another of the major focuses for Strathfieldsaye is how to attract about 60 players to compete in its senior and reserves football sides.

While North City at times struggled for numbers in the BFL, the club was able to secure enough players in the nine months between its acceptance and first game so that it never forfeited a game in any football grade.

"It’s always an issue for any club in trying to sell to (prospective) players what you have, what makes you stand out from another club and why you should go there," Leahy said.

"We didn’t chase blokes who were after money, we recruited people who wanted to come on board for the challenge of something new.

"We approached a lot of blokes who we felt were too much in their comfort zone, so we wanted blokes who wanted the challenge of being part of history."

Meanwhile, Strathfieldsaye will hold a membership drive within the next month at the Strathfieldsaye Shopping Centre.