Football
YOOGALI Soccer Club president Paul Fisher has vowed to "look into the full weight of the rule" that has denied them entry into this season's Regional Premier League.
As predicted by The Area News earlier this week, Yoogali SC was officially barred from entering the competition at a meeting of Griffith District Football Association clubs on Monday night.
At the meeting, YSC asked for permission to enter a team in the RPL instead of the Griffith first-grade competition while still having a team in the local reserves.
The club has a shortage of players and can only fill two senior men's teams, not three as it did last season when it participated in the RPL.
This request that would have brought the number of clubs in the GDFA top flight back down to eight.
"We said no, because they must fulfill the local commitment first," GDFA president Matthew Curran said.
"We're not going to be held responsible if they haven't got enough numbers (for a third senior team). We've got nothing to do with that.
"To comply with the local association and Football NSW, they had to have a first-grade, reserves, and either a women's or under 18s team.
"Everyone got the letter from Football NSW, everyone knew what the commitments were. There's no animosity there, that's just the way it is.
"The association would back them 100 per cent to go in the RPL if they did have that but their duties here come first."
Fisher said Yoogali SC would accept the association's decision - once the club has "looked into the matter" further.
"We believe that the RPL is the right direction but now that the rule has been put into play, our focus will be wholeheartedly on the local competition," he said.
"However, we're still looking into the matter and the full weight of the rule. At the same time we fully respect and abide by the rule."
YSC committee member Sante Donadel added: "We're just hoping the criteria that's been put on us is the same for every club."
Luke Fisher, secretary of the Goulburn North East Football Association that controls the RPL, said his organisation was "very disappointed" with the outcome.
"We were looking forward to their involvement this year and we were looking to accommodate them this year and make the NSW clubs feel part of it all," he said.
"What we'll do now is sit down and assess the future. Our longer-term vision was to have teams from other areas in the RPL.
"Whether we maintain the RPL brand and look to expand in 2014, we'll have to sit down as a board and discuss it."